Slayer Gothic 3
by gothicjedi666
Summary: Third part of my Slayer Gothic series. Normal warnings apply.
1. Chapter 1

**Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 1**

 **Summers Residence. Sunnydale.**

There was something wrong here, but Buffy just couldn't figure what it was. The plants in her room had been carefully watered, by the looks of things her Mom had even dusted their leaves, the bed was made, the boy band and ice skating posters were up, her wardrobe was full of new clothes and even shoes for the coming school year, and the carpet was clean, the wallpaper hadn't been replaced, and even her slippers were in the right place. It all seemed perfect, yet there was something wrong here.

She looked around the room and then walked back to the bed, where her bag was lying. It contained just one thing that she had forgotten to unpack. She pulled out Mr Gordo and placed him carefully back in his place of honour. Then she tweaked him slightly to the right. He looked a bit squished, but that was just from being jammed in a bag for so much of the summer.

Sitting back down on the bed she looked around again and while the room did feel more right with Mr Gordo restored to his rightful place it was all still a bit freaky, being home.

She had a familiar and yet unfamiliar feel of the bed due to not sleeping in it for so long. Then she noted the smell of the room itself. For one thing, it smelt a lot fresher, as it her mother had cleaned up in here everyday. Knowing her Mom, she probably had as well.

Yes, it all was a bit freaky. She had the odd feeling that nothing really fit any more, that everything was, like Mr Gordo, a little out of place. Looking over to the table next to the bed she reached out and picked up her diary, soon she began to write.

Once she done she sighed and stood up. She'd seen Mom and now she had people to see. Wincing she thought of Willow, her supposed best friend whom she hadn't spoken to in over a month.

Not that this was her fault Buffy's father had insisted on the cruise, and this had just been after spending 2 weeks in Hawaii, and while Buffy herself had felt no desire to even met her new stepmother, her biological mother had insisted she go. All she'd wanted to do was to visit her father in LA for a week and then come back home.

Buffy had been gone from Sunnydale for only eight weeks, yet it felt like so much longer. Perhaps that was because she'd been able to forget about being the Slayer for so long and being able to focus on issues more normal people had to deal with, such as stepmothers who were clearly gold diggers and too young for her father.

As such as she'd hated it, she had for 42 days been free of anything supernatural, and now she was back at the Hellmouth, this didn't please Buffy at all.

On the plus she would see her friends and boyfriend once again, this made Buffy smile, and she figure that perhaps this place would feel more like home again once she had rejoined the group.

(Line Break)

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

When Amy entered the study, school books in hand, she saw me and paused.

"Is everything alright, Damien?" she asked.

It took me a moment to remember I was Damien, I'd not felt right using that name ever really, but after spending so much time at the Citadel it felt even more wrong.

"No" I replied "I'm getting some weird readings on my Slaydar, and I ran into Buffy earlier, I don't think that we have a very happy little Slayer back in town".

Amy needed a moment before replying.

"Your Slaydar?" she asked "Is that like Gaydar for Slayers?".

More or less, and I was surprised that Amy didn't know about it, I was sure I must have mentioned it, then again she was preoccupied by her return to school.

"Its like a Slayer sense" I attempted to explain "Its like a feeling I get something evil is nearby, and it triggered after I dropped Buffy at home".

I'd picked her up from the airport and she'd seemed fine then, but when she'd gotten home my Slayer senses had informed me that was something wrong. I couldn't tell what it was. I doubted it was any sort of feminine issue as that would not trigger my Slayer sense.

"So how was your summer?" Amy enquired.

Like Buffy I too had spent a couple of months out of Sunnydale, and like her it hadn't really been my choice.

My Watcher, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, had decided that he would take me across the country to fight monsters, we'd stayed in hotels while hunting all sorts of creatures. If not for the fact that I'd been able to bring Faith and Tara along it would have been like a more boring version of the TV show Supernatural, only without the homoerotic subtext.

We'd actually had to do quite a bit of investigating to find them as unlike vampires and dumber demons the bad things we'd hunted didn't just hang around in graveyards or in nightclubs.

Having a witch along had proven very helpful, and while Faith didn't have any noticeable powers, she'd been able to keep company, and she'd provided much in the way sexy time, which was good

On the plus side I'd gotten to do some more travelling, to see more of the country, and thanks to my personal wealth I'd been able to ensure that we stayed in decent hotels.

Alas there had been a downside, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, the fact that he was annoying to be around hadn't been the real issue, it was that we'd not been able to take our advanced gear, the stuff we'd gotten from other worlds.

I was sure that Giles would never tell his bosses about what my group really got up to and the resources we have, but Wes still seemed like he fresh out their academy and very loyal to what was really a rather useless group. I was sure that if that Conical found out the truth they'd either try to take control, or they try to destroy us, because we were a threat to them.

"Good" was what I said to Amy.

Actually it was more mixed then anything. Sure I'd saved lives, battled evil, fucked two of my girls in fun ways, and Wes had even lightened up, but now that I was home again I felt unsettled, and I wasn't even sure why.

I wondered if I just like travelling to new places and battling evil. Sunnydale had evil, but I found it too easy to defeat. Perhaps I needed a greater challenge, and I didn't think I'd find it here.

"Did Willow tell you that I ran into her San Francisco?" I asked Amy.

Willow's mother and father never spent much time at home. They were always off for a conference or what not somewhere else. Recently Willow's mother had written a book and it had become a great success with psychiatrists across the nation, as such Willow's mother had spent this summer on a book signing tour and for once she'd take her daughter with her.

I'd run into Willow at a university while hunting some sort of demon that drank the brains of smart people, the demon would bite the skull of a clever clogs injecting its venom which dissolved a person's mind, then it would drink the goo with this straw tongue thing it had its mouth. Nasty critter, I was glad I killed that thing because it had gone after Willow's mother.

"Yeah she told me" Amy replied as she placed her arm full of books on my desk "Fred said you need to read all of these before next month and she'll have some essays for you to write before you take your exams".

I sighed and remembered that I had promised to attend college with my harem, and that meant passing my GED. Certain employers would prefer a high school diploma equivalent, but Sunnydale College would accept either as long as the score was good, and given my wealth and the fact that I was a Slayer getting a full time job wasn't a concern for any way.

While I doubted I'd live to finish college I didn't tell my girls that, and what got most Slayers killed was recklessness, so if I was careful I might see my twenties for the second time.

Amy soon left the room, and I looked at the pile of books. Maths, science, history and so on. I should be out hunting the forces of darkness, and instead I had homework.

This sucked.

(Line Break)

 **Summers Residence. Sunnydale.**

The Slayer faced a tough choice. Which sword to take with when she went out.

On the one hand she had Taragarth, and even if the blade was sheathed, the bearer of Taragarth would be protected from extrasensory perception and all detection spells. Once drawn, the bearer would also be protected from flames, and if they were to fall more than ten feet, the sword was enchanted with feather fall spell which would prevent the holder from going splat. The sword also had a knack for cutting through bad guys.

She had other swords, a Jewel ed Rapier was a little more obvious due to being larger and shiner, it was attractive to look at it, but not as pretty as some of her other weapons, such as the Beautiful Blade, which like the Jewelled Rapier was from Mareth.

Well, for her first night back, and some possible Bronze action ahead of her, a smaller weapon was better. As such she took Taragarth which was a short sword, and therefore easier to hide under a coat.

When she left her room she saw that her Mom was about to hammer a nail into a wall. Her mother was surprised to see Buffy as such the hammer came down on the wall, not on the nail, and left a nasty hole in the plaster.

"Buffy, you startled me," she said, and then went back to knocking the nail into the wall.

Hopefully whatever her mother was going to hang up would cover that hole.

"I thought I'd slip out and say hi to Willow," she said

Then frowned at the mask that Mom was hanging on the nail. Not only was it ugly, Buffy found it unsettling.

"It's a piece of tribal art" Joyce Summers explained "a mask from Nigeria. Isn't it amazing? There's no space at the gallery just yet for it, so I'm hanging it here for a little while".

Buffy didn't want to look at the 'art' as it repelled her, but she found it hard to look away.

"It looks... very masky" the Slayer remarked "Kinda fangy too".

She then decided to change the subject.

"I won't be out too long" she informed her parent "I'm just going to spend some time with Willow".

Her mother smiled.

"Do you need some food? I mean, will you be slaying?" she asked.

While slightly freaked out by the question, Buffy still managed a smile.

"Not thanks" she answered "I haven't recovered yet from the four-course snack you fed me earlier, Mom, and the slaying depends on the locals being uppity. I'll be okay".

The fact that her Mom was asking her slayer-related questions was a bit freaky. Being asked if she wanted sandwiches to munch between dusting vampires was also a little odd. Her mother had known about the Slaying for a while now, but she'd ignored its existence for the most part. Now she seemed to be accepting it, and while this should make Buffy happy it didn't. Perhaps because she'd never wanted her home life to mix with her Slaying.

Soon Buffy wandered down the street and looked at the horizon. The sun was setting. Almost time for the locals to start getting frisky if they were of the undead kind. Summer time was normally downtime for vampires and other things that avoided the sun, but the season would soon change and the monsters would be spending more time out of where ever it was they called home.

"Back to work" the Slayer whispered she began a quick patrol.

The Bronze and Willow could wait for an hour.

(Line Break)

 **Library. Sunnydale High.**

Not long ago my Watcher had called me and requested that I come to the library, which he had taken over as librarian, when Giles moved on to be CEO of CRD, the company my group and its allies ran.

CRD had already sold a fancy new kind of software, that could be used for all kinds of operating systems, to Microsoft who'd paid millions for it and if I was any judge it would net them hundreds of millions, maybe billions, because the software was simply so much better then anything else in the world. The software had been seriously downgraded, but it was still more advanced than anything local.

Unsurprising considering that it was based on Mass Effect software which was centuries ahead of the primitives of this world had access to, my world was only about twenty years ahead, but the difference showed. I really missed board band Internet.

When I got to the library I found Wes and Giles bending over a cage in which a very smelly and unkempt cat was prowling restlessly. The moment I laid eyes on it I stopped dead in my tracks. My Slayer senses didn't tell me much, they were feelings not a proper source of information, but the reaction I got from looking at this cat made me my skin tingle.

"That thing is undead" I stated as I looked closely at the zombie cat.

It smelt truly terrible, the stink would have warned me if is wrongness even without my supernatural abilities.

"Can you feel something from it Damien?" Giles asked "Some Slayers have been to sense when there is a single vampire in a massive crowd, and your senses are just as impressive".

To understand Slayers and what we could do a person had to understand not just our powers but our history.

The line of Slayers began in ancient Africa, when a group of tribal elders, shamans of a sort, known as the Shadow Men used powerful magic to infuse a captive native girl with the heart of a pure ancient demon. This process granted the girl incredible strength, speed, agility, endurance, a predatory instinct, and superior healing factor: she became the First Slayer, closest to unite with the pure demon, making her the first and perhaps most powerful Slayer.

She was created to fight the vampires, the demons and other forces of evil that populated Earth and threatened the innocent. Unfortunately, being fully infused with the essence of such a powerful demon resulted in The First Slayer, sometimes known as the "Primitive", becoming little more than an animal, she separated herself from civilisation, and became determined to slay, led completely by an insatiable blood thirst.

Despite her having lost her much of her human nature, however, it must never be forgotten that the First Slayer was a formidable force of good who hunted and killed many monsters that preyed on humanity back when we didn't have our technology to defend us, and it was said that she also slayed the very last pure demon, an Old One, that walked the Earth with the Scythe that was buried here in Sunnydale and one day I would get around to digging that weapon up so Buffy could use it.

The Shadow Men's descendants went on to form the Watchers Council, an organisation dedicated to finding, training, and supporting Slayers. Even though the ways they went about doing this weren't entirely ethical, the Council was always determined to stop the spread of evil. These days they seemed less effective, and in my view they were next to useless.

Because of the violent nature of the life of a Slayer, their average lifespan was quite short after being called, under a year for most. Consequently, the Shadow Men's spell also created a large number of Potential Slayers, normal girls around the world who may one day be called.

The Slayer line was not genetic in nature. Slayers did not inherit the calling from their parents and there's normally no spiritual connection between Slayers either. When a Slayer died, one of the Potentials was seemingly chosen at random. I suspect that the PBS do the choosing.

Always the Watcher's Council has tried to identify and train the Potentials before they are called, but they are not always able to do so, with some girls only being found after they have been "activated" as the Slayer, Buffy Summers being one of those girls, and Faith had so far not been detected.

Modern days Slayer's were still empowered by the essence of a demon, its spirit but not the mind, and while we were more human than the 'Primitive' and less powerful since there was no way Buffy or I could take on an Old One even with a magic scythe.

Slayers were still far more powerful than the tainted descendants that roamed the world these days. Plus we were smart enough to use weapons.

While having weapons helped, really it was the skill and training that gives us an advantage. Most demons only ever tried to use brute force in a battle, and against a normal human this mostly worked, but against a trained warrior, even one not mystically empowers, it not a good idea.

Slayers like me had superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes, stamina, enhanced senses, and durability as well accelerated healing, innate hand-to-hand and weapons combat skills. These powers grew over time and since most Slayers only lasted year it was unknown how strong a Slayer could become.

We also had Prophetic Dreams, they weren't that handy, and while I'd never dreamt of the lives of past Slayers Buffy had. Perhaps this was because I wasn't a natural Slayer, or it could just be that I didn't remember the dreams. Some people just couldn't recall their dreams as well as others.

I suspected that these dreams were a result of the experiences of past Slayers getting passed along to future Slayers and while we weren't normally aware of these memories, they were what guided us when when we picked up and used like a pro a weapon we'd never even seen before. Buffy for example hadn't known how to fire a gun where as I had. Also I'd never taken a single driving lesson, but I could drive motorbikes, cars and even larger forms of transport with ease.

One consequence of this power was that a Slayer has essentially fought all the battles of the Slayers before her, or him in some universes, if we were aware of these experiences like our own memories I had no doubt that our minds would be fractured under the weight of so many life times.

Also I suspected the prophetic dreams were the work of the Powers That Be, the attempts of very alien beings to pass on information to creatures they couldn't talk to directly, and not an ability that came with the Slayer. This was supported by the fact that one of them had appeared to me while I was in a trance and had taken the form of Tara in order worn me of the demon known as the Judge.

Last but not least was the ability to sense vampires and demons to an extent, but not with our human senses, this was more mystical. It was hard to explain, if you didn't have this sense you couldn't understand anymore than a person born blind could understand what it was like to see colours, or how a deaf person would never known how music sounded.

Buffy also had this Slaydar, however her ability was unreliable, for me this ability was much stronger, and I suspected that was because I embrace my Slayerness and trained more rather than simply being more powerful than Buffy.

Also unlike her I had some magical talent, although not like a witch did. A proper witch came from a line of magic users, and were so much better at it than others, they could use it more safely too. However Willow seemed to be somewhat of an expection to this.

Things were a bit different for me as not that long ago a Mage who lived in Mareth had marked with mystic symbols to further enhance my powers, both physical and magical. I wasn't actually sure that was all they did as the Mage had tried to preform some sort spell on me, one that would allow her to control me I suspected, and she'd added more marks to me then. Still I was sure I'd find out.

"Yeah I'm getting an odd vibe" I told Giles "The same vibe as I picked up from Buffy when I dropped her off at home".

Clearly there was a connection.

"Where did this come from?" I asked.

Giles lent back from the cage in more than a little relief and started to clean his glasses yet again.

"I had a phone call from Buffy this morning" he informed me "She found a dead cat in the basement last night. She and Joyce buried it but this morning this thing had exhumed itself and was scratching on their back door. Wesley and I picked it up earlier today. We decided to bring it here rather than take it to the factory since our books are here and I don't think its much of a threat".

This puzzled me.

"Any reason you can think of for a zombie cat?" I asked.

This seemed familiar now, but I couldn't quite remember why. There was too much in my head to keep it all straight.

"Not that I'm aware of," replied Giles while replacing his glasses. "Although... Joyce does have a new decoration in the house. A mask, from Nigeria I believe. I was going to look it up later, but now I think we should do some research with a little more urgency".

Now I remembered the mask makes zombies, and if one of the zombies put on the mask some demon comes out to play. I must have been sensing the mask and simply assuming that Buffy's feelings upon returning home were the cause. Most likely she'd just been having a mood swing, although to be fair feelings did effect a Slayer's power and emotions were important when you used magic.

"Is this the mask?" Wes asked.

He showed a page of a book to Giles who nodded.

"Ovu Mobani" he then read out "A demon of Nigerian origin whose name means Evil Eye. You'll have to destroy the mask before it raises any more zombies. Its power was most likely dormant until it was brought to the Hellmouth".

That would explain why what seemed to be a harmless piece of tribal art would suddenly start raising zombies.

"I'll deal with it" I promised the Watchers.

A quick trip to the Oblivion Plane known as the Deadlands was in order. The mask wouldn't trouble anyone once it was thrown into lava, and even if it did the Deadra don't really die so they couldn't become zombies.

Or perhaps I'd take it to the Citadel, and see if any good magic users there could destroy the mask. I could even do myself, with the right ritual it was possible to make something called 'living flame' which was used to safely destroy dark magical artifacts.

I'd make up my mind on the way to Buffy's place, I'd be quick just in case any zombies made an appearance. I really didn't like zombies.


	2. Chapter 2

**Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 2**

 **Outside Sunnydale.**

Not far from Sunnydale was a desert, it was beyond the woods and hills that surrounded the seaside town, and at the very edge of the expanded sensor network Fred and I were setting up.

Until now we'd only been keeping track of what was going on in the town, but since vampires kept popping up clearly our old sensor network hadn't been good enough.

I'd deduced that the vampires were hiding out in the sewers, that there was something down there that prevent the scanners from detecting them. Perhaps it was a result of the Hellmouth or something else mystical that shielded them, I simply didn't know and while I wanted to find out mapping those sewers would have to wait.

First of all I wanted to figure out how the vampires were getting into those sewers, they shouldn't still be appearing given that I picked them off when they came topside, so either someone was supplying them with people to turn, or vampires from elsewhere had a way of sneaking into the town.

I could only assume that the Hellmouth was drawing the undead to the town like a moth to a flame, because otherwise you'd think they'd avoid a place with two Slayers living in it.

The caves in the hills near Sunnydale were a maze, they were home to demons and vampires, and connected to the sewer systems, no doubt the mayor had set it up that way when planning the town. I really should deal with that guy soon.

However the vamps still had to cross this desert to get the hills, out here there was no where to shelter from the sun, and no roads into the hills. You'd need an off-road transport of some kind to get to the caves.

They could easily enter the town by train at night, or drive from LA to Sunnydale in couple of hours also at night, but that didn't explain how they got into the sewer systems without appearing on the holomap I had down in the basement of my house.

That device tracked everything living thing that was human sized or larger. It kept track of demons too, but with them I couldn't just hunt them down as some demons were neutral and in a few cases you even got good demons. As such I mostly focused on the vamps.

Hence why I was working to expand the sensor net. If there were tunnels, man made or natural, out here which led to the caves in the hills I wanted to find them and collapse them, so as to limit the movements of the vamps, and the best way to find those tunnels would be to track those that used them.

Even if there were no tunnels then expanding the range of the sensors would be useful. For example if a lot of demons and/or vampires amassed outside of town with the intent of marching in and destroying my group I'd like some warning.

While in the show The Initiative didn't become active until season 4 I couldn't be sure that would be the case in this time line, also a large operation like that simply doesn't start up overnight. It should be possible for me to detect the start of The Initiative by spotting odd movements by humans who in places that people didn't normally hang out.

While on the subject of odd movements I was now watching a rather old and dust covered car as it made its way across the flat ground of the desert. Its progress was rather uneven, more than once it stopped and changed direction. What was interesting was the fact that each time it had changed direction it had been heading towards a different one of the hills that divided the lush greener outskirts of Sunnydale and the desert.

Although darkness was gathering quite quickly now as the sun was setting, I didn't need that star's lights to follow the car, its headlights combined with the supernatural talents of the Slayer, were more than enough to allow me to both track the car and keep pace with it.

As to why I was out here so late in the day, I just hadn't thought it was a good idea to come out here while the sun was high in the sky, mystical warrior or not I still needed to stay hydrated and that was hard in a desert.

While I was not wearing armour or carrying advanced weapons, all that extra weight was a hindrance out here when there was nothing to fight, I'd not come unprepared for trouble. I had with me Khazid'hea a powerful and intelligent sword, also I had a knife on me in case I lost the sword. I'd not brought a Sliding Device with me as you didn't tend to get hot spots where they're weren't people, but I did have my omni-tool on me in case I needed to call for help. My backpack contained water, a first aid kit, and sensors.

I kept up with the car by taking advantage of the terrain, now that we were closer to the hills the ground became less level forcing the car to go much slower than before were I could weave my way between boulders and jump over gaps in the ground.

My pace increased as I realised that the car contained demons, I could sense them, I had thought until moments ago that there was one or more idiot humans out here lost, and that I'd be giving them directions. Now I might be slaying some idiots who weren't human.

(Line Break)

 **Outside Sunnydale.**

Doyle was confused. But then he'd been confused for several hours now. His abductors, whatever the hell they were, seemed to be looking for something. That or they were just drunk, he wished he was drunk.

A few times now the car had stopped and the red thing with snake like eyes had consulted some kind of old book. Meanwhile the driver, something that was green with scales, was getting annoyed about this drive.

The red thing with snake like eyes was the leader of this odd duo and the more that Doyle studied him the less he liked his chances of getting out of this situation alive.

Neither of the demons were the brightest bulbs in the box, so Doyle was sure he could outsmart them, the tricky part would be getting his gag off so he could say something clever, or at the very least beg for his life.

Snake-eyes turned his head so that he could look back at Doyle, the demon-human hybrid, when he spoke the red demon hissed a lot, but Doyle was able to make out what the creature was saying.

"Get him out" it ordered.

The big green demon, clearly the muscle of this operation, escorted Doyle out of the car and he didn't do so gently. Even in the darkness he still looked menacing.

"You Doyle. You Brachen demon. You Seer" the bigger demon said "You find thing in hill, we let you live. Maybe"

Snake-eyes emerged from the other side of the car.

"Maybe" he said.

Doyle now knew that this was his own fault. He'd been bitching in that demon bar about the visions he'd started getting, and these two monsters were now under the impression that Doyle had some control over his strange ability, which he didn't.

"Can I ask what you need me to find?" Doyle asked.

Right now he was hoping that whatever or whomever had been sending him the visions would send a useful message. Failing that he'd take finding something like a gun, one of those would be handy right about now.

"Cave. Bodies in cave" the big demon answered "Bodies old. Dead many years ago. Treasure with bodies in cave".

Doyle had no choice but to play for time. Although that might only prolong his suffering, as there wasn't anyone around here to help him.

"Ah. That's going to make it hard, but not impossible. If they were fresh then I'd be able to take you straight there," he said, trying to hide how desperate he felt "But if they've been dead for along time, that's going to make it a little harder."

There was a pause as the demon with snake like eyes studied him

"You better find the cave or I kill you" the smaller of the two demons warned "And don't even think about running, even if you got away the heat would kill before you made it back to LA, but to be on the safe side".

Doyle kept his face expressionless as they fastened a manacle around his neck and then attached it to a long chain. Things were looking bad for me, but still he didn't give up.

"Look," the hybrid said "It might make things a little easier if you tell me exactly what we're looking for. 'Dead bodies' and 'treasure' is a little vague. I mean, if you want me to find this cave, how about cluing me in a little on this cave".

There was a pause as snake-eyes spent some time in thought, then he explained what was in the cave they were looking for. This did not make Doyle any happier, in fact he somehow felt even worse than before.

(Line Break)

It had been an odd night so far, the demons had spent the last few hours wandering vaguely around some of the hills. I was pretty sure that they were searching for something.

I had no what this could be, but something had made the two demons and their captive come all the way out here, they'd shackle some poor unfortunate human looking guy to a chain and then had gotten him to wander around.

The captive felt demony, but not like the other two, also he looked and moved like a human, I didn't think he was a vampire either. This was odd, but not a concern to me as he wasn't a threat.

Now the demons had found one of the many, many caves, in these hills and they hadn't left it. Which meant one of three things to me, either something in there had killed them all, they'd found what they were looking for and didn't want to move it in the dark, or they'd set up camp.

I decided to go and find out which by entering the cave, before I found the demons, who were dangerous I didn't doubt, I found the one who wasn't and to my surprise I knew who he was.

He was Doyle, a hybrid who was suppose to aid Angel for a time before dying heroically, only Angel had left for L.A more than a year earlier than in the show's timeline, so it was possible he hadn't met Doyle yet.

"Who are you?" the half demon asked me.

I smiled.

"A man with questions" I replied "I've been asking myself. Why would two demons keep a demon prisoner? And why would they go wandering over a hill late at night?".

"Hey," hissed Doyle indignantly, "I'm very human – on my mother's side. Only half Brachen demon, and who the hell are you?".

I tried to recall what I knew of that breed. Brachen Demons were a species of peaceful humanoid demons. Like most of the demon species on Earth, Brachen's were half-breeds, thus hunted by pure-breed demons like the Scourge. Who ironically were not pure-blood demons themselves as only the Old Ones were.

The Old Ones were brought forth from another, more horrific, dimension during the creation of Earth through the Seed of Wonder, which was something that should of been in the Master's lair only I'd never found it. I suspected it was somehow hiding itself.

These pure demons had shared the Earth with fellow higher beings which would come to be known as The Powers That Be, who were really Old Ones as well they just didn't admit it.

The rise of the evil Old Ones led the Powers to flee this world, while the pure demons became rulers of vast territories, commanded enormous armies that worshipped them as deities and constantly made war against each other, turning the Earth into their hell. This ancient epoch was known as the Primordium Age.

Over time the Old Ones lost their claim over Earth. Some were killed in their own wars while others either fled or were banished to other dimensions. It was widely believed that the rise of humankind was responsible for the demise of the Old Ones.

Those who got killed were placed in sarcophagi which were hidden at the Deeper Well, a hole in the world running between England (in the Cotswolds) and somewhere in New Zealand.

The remains of the Old Ones are kept there in order to prevent their resurrection, as not only their corpses but also their essences were trapped. Perhaps the contents one of those sarcophagi were what the Shadow Men used to make the First Slayer.

Now the Old Ones were dead or gone, all the demons that walked the Earth had some blood mixed with humans and animals, this was why they had humanoid bodies and why some had animal like features.

Brachen demons also had humanoid appearance, however unlike humans they had green skin, red irises and blue spines covering their faces. They were capable of breeding with humans, resulting in half-Brachens, such as Doyle.

Also Brachen demons were stronger than humans and were double jointed in the neck area, allowing them to survive a dislocated or broken neck. They also had the ability of smelling objects with mystical powers, and had a reputation for having a good sense of direction.

The Slayer handbook had told me that last part, and it had informed to leave this species alone since they were peaceful towards humans.

"I'm a demon hunter" I informed the Seer.

Understandably this unnerved the hybrid.

"Not into the evil thing at all" Doyle assured me "Brachens are pretty much the quiet, live and let live kind of demon, and I'm half human!".

Well even if they weren't that didn't make it right to chain him up like a dog.

"I'm Gothic" I told the half-human as I worked on a way to free him.

That wasn't the name I used, but I was a Gothic.

"Doyle" he replied "Odd name".

It was, but I liked it.

"So why are you here?" was my next question.

Doyle sighed.

"I'm being held by a group of morons who are looking for a cave that contains some sort of magic thing" I was informed "Its very dangerous. They think that I can find it because I have visions".

He then paused before speaking again.

"The funny thing is that I did have a vision I know where to go" he told me "But I didn't think I'm suppose to show the demons".

Since Doyle was trusting me I decided to trust him. After I freed him I gave him my knife, it was a good one made from Mithril by the Battlehammer clan of Mithril Hall and blessed by their priests, one of the gifts they'd given me as thanks for defending their home.

"Know how to use that?" I asked.

Not that there much skill required when stabbing people.

"Oh yes," said the half-Brachen demon.

So far so good.

"Now about these demons" I said next "I've never seen their types before. I don't suppose you know about them?".

Demon breeds were varied, some could only be killed in certain ways or with certain metals. However removing the dead nearly always did the job so I wasn't too concerned.

"Never laid eyes on them before in my life" Doyle admitted.

Annoying, but not too bad.

"Okay I'll kill them and then you led me to the magic thing" I decided If its dangerous like you said I can destroy it, then I'll take you to LA, there was someone I'd like you to met".

(Line Break)

 **Angel's Place. LA.**

The old service elevator came to stop and I opened up the way into the basement the vampire with a soul called home. The unique vampire himself greeted us.

"Hey, Damien, this is a surprise" he said.

I would have called a head, but I'd forgotten his number. No doubt I had written down somewhere, but I couldn't be bothered to sort through my vast amounts of records to find it. I really needed to better organise all my notes and such. I'd feel terrible if the world ended just because I'd misfiled something important.

"Since you're not the most sociable of people I'll keep things brief" I told Angel, before gesturing to the man behind me "This is Doyle, he's half demon, but he has a soul".

This I knew because I'd already gotten Doyle to sing in front of the demon known as the Host aka Lorne, he'd informed me that Doyle was on the side of light, had a soul, and was meant to aid a champion. Which could be me as I was the Champion of Mareth, but I knew in my heart that he was meant to assist Angel, he was an actual hero, not that I felt jealous as heroes are stupid.

"Also he has visions mostly of people in danger" I went on to say "You can help the people he has visions of and in return he needs protection, and maybe money for beer".

Angel needed a moment to process all of that.

"Why doesn't he stay with you?" the vampire wondered.

Well having someone with visions on my team could be useful, I had a baby nature god growing in my back yard and while it was a small tree in terms of appearance it had the power to keep all demons away from my home, as such Doyle couldn't enter my home, which made it hard to keep an eye on him. Oddly he'd been able to get all the way to the front door before being driven back.

"You're the one seeking to balance his karma with good deeds" was what I said "I hunt demons to protect humans. I'm a warrior not a champion for the light side".

Not that Angel really needed to redeem himself, his soul, the part of him that was really human, hadn't done all those things in the past that had been a demon. Sure Angelus and Angel had the same body, and to some exent the same mind given that they had the same memories, but really they weren't the same being, not in my view.

Still if he wanted to be a hero I'd aid in him in this mission because while all heroes were stupid, sadly this world needed them. With this in mind I presented a rucksack full of money, and some gems in case Angel needed to bribe someone or info who didn't care about American dollars.

"Consider this an investment" I told the vampire "Start a detective agency and fight evil, whatever you want".

Angel examined the money.

"I can't take this he" he told me.

Save me from noble people.

"Well then its a down payment then" I said "I might need your services in the future, and besides I'm a millionaire, its not like this will bankrupt me".

I already had a job for him.

"Oh while I'm here there's something I could do with you looking into" I mentioned "Vampires are finding their way into Sunnydale sewers, and they're not coming in by train or cars, at least not all of them. This city is close to Sunnydale, so its possible the vamps stay here before heading my way, see if you can find out if this is in anyway organised".

A few vamps might have been able to hide out in the sewers all this time, but there weren't any getting sired recently as far as I could tell, there were no disappearances from the morgue and the only fresh graves around were from people who died of natural causes such as old age and car crashes. So unless someone was modifying medical and police reports quite often new vamps were somehow getting into town.

That was actually possible. I'd have to get Willow to hack into the official records, maybe she could find out if anything was getting altered.

"Okay" was all Angel finally had to say.

He really wasn't the chatty type.

"Guess that means you can stay here too" I said to Doyle "Might want to keep your head down in case those demons I killed had any friends".

It was highly unlikely anyone cared, but there was no sense taking chances. Besides spending time together might help Doyle and Angel get along and start working together.

"Well, bye" I said while heading for the lift "You two have fun".

Somehow I didn't think they would.

"Oh I forgot to ask" called out Doyle "What happened with that magical thingy we found with all those dead men?".

I still had it, carefully wrapped up in my bag. I'd not even touched it. I didn't have great magical powers but I could manage to float something small if I had to.

"Rights its in the bag" I said.

I'd meant to let my witches have a look at it, but none had been at home. While Doyle had told me it was dangerous I wanted to be sure before destroying it. For all I knew the PTBs had sent Doyle a vision to guide me to because it was something good that needed to be protected.

"You mean this?" asked Angel.

He was holding what looked to be a orb that was covered in odd writing.

"No don't touch that!" I called out.

It was too late


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Note**

Bodaceia is hell-dimension visited by Xander and Dawn in the comics so I didn't make it up I just played with the idea a bit. The native women do in fact look a like Andorians.

 **Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 3**

 **Bodaceia Dimension.**

A moment ago we'd found ourselves blinking in confusion and staring around at a large, medieval-style hall that filled with women. Lots of women. All sorts of women, some short, some tall, some busty, some petite, all attractive and they all looked like Andornians from Star Trek only they were sorts of colours in terms of skin, none of them were blue.

And they were all looking at us while smiling. I was waiting for the feeding frenzy to begin when one of them stepped forward. Her skin was a lovely orange colour and her hair was fire engine red. She wore very little in the way of clothing, and aside from antenna things and the odd skin colour, she seemed very human.

She held her arms open wide, which drew attention to her massive chest. Just for a moment I wondered if they selected her as their leader due to the sheer sizes of her breasts.

"Welcome, Earthmen!" she greeted.

"Huh?" I said.

My mind needed a moment to process this madness.

"We brought you from your world to ours so that you can help us save our race from extinction" the woman declared.

I was still trying to figure all this out.

"It's every man's dream come true. Literally" Doyle stated.

Angel wasn't so convinced

"It's ridiculous" he stated.

To be fair it did seem that way.

"You're not going to tell me that all your men are dead and you shipped us here to help repopulate your world, are you?" Angel asked "Rod Serling is dead, isn't he?".

While this wasn't the time for this I just had to know.

"Who is Rod Serling?" I asked.

"He created The Twilight Zone" Angel answered "I met him when I accidentally ended up in an episode. Its a long story. Anyway a bunch of attractive female aliens who abduct men to help repopulate their world sounds like one of his ideas".

Doyle found this all amusing.

"Oh, like you're going to be a lot of help at repopulating a world" he said to Angel "Vampires are sterile".

Well Angel did father Conner in the show so that wasn't totally true, and if we were in another dimension the rules governing vampires tight be different, like how in Pleya a vampire could walk in the sun and had a reflection.

"Ignore him, ma'am," Doyle then told big boob lady. "We're all deeply honoured by this... err honour".

Wait I wasn't.

"Oh, wonderful!" she replied.

She turned back to the assembled women and began speaking in a language that wasn't English. The women cheered and clapped delightedly. I was reminded greatly of that scene in the Monthy Python movie when that knight ends up in a tower full of you women.

Yes. Yes, you must give us all a good spanking. And after the spanking, the oral sex.

"This is so wrong," I said "It's some sort of trick. Where's Lancelot when you needed him".

I mean Mareth had been silly, but at least that some sense, demonic influence mostly. But I sensed nothing demonic here, well aside from the two other men with me.

"Gothic, there are dozens of women right there and now who want to fuck us! Why are you arguing?" Doyle asked me.

Angel spoke on the matter before I could.

"It's the Twilight Zone! This cannot end well!" the vampire warned "Trust me on this".

Doyle was not convinced

"It's not the Twilight Zone!" the hybrid yelled.

Something then hit me

"It's that episode of Futurama!"

This was starting to make sense, not at lot but some.

"You know the one with the planet of women?" I said "And the skeletons of men with smashed pelvises!".

That explained the old dead bodies, they'd decayed too much for me to realise their means of death, until now. However the two men with me didn't know about Futurama so they didn't understand the danger.

"Death by Snoo-Snoo!" I said before turning to Angel "and what happens if they find out nobody's getting pregnant after having sex with you?".

Before the vampire could speak the other half-breed did.

"Well it could work," Doyle protested. "They're not human."

Before this could be discuss further the orange lady turned back to us and the crowd of women moved towards us, and they were smiling in a way that was unnerving to say the least.

"Listen ladies" I said as we were surrounded by attractive aliens form who knew what dimension "I have a whole harem at home".

Doyle took a big swig from a flask, which he kindly passed to me, before moving into the crowd of slow moving horny aliens, he soon vanished from sight. Meanwhile Angel and I backed away slowly.

"I can't do this I have a load of girlfriends already!" I shouted "Like seven".

Or was eight, I was too distracted to count.

"Good, then you'll have practice dealing with multiple partners!" the leader called out.

That so wasn't my point.

"I already have lots of children!" I protested.

Again this made things worse.

"Wonderful we need fertile men!" she yelled.

I thought fast, I didn't have much time. Sadly my ideas were crap.

"Angel we can fight our way out!" I suggested.

The vampire didn't look pleased by the idea.

"You want to beat up, maybe even kill, a bunch of unarmed young women who just want to get pregnant?" he asked.

Well put that way I sounded like the bad guy.

"Yeah, but they'll rape us" I pointed out.

Angel shook his head as we found our backs against the wall, an actual wall.

"I don't think they know that" he said "Only the leader seems to speak English so they don't understand what we're saying, and they don't have men here so they could just be misjudging our reaction. They might not even understand what rape is, I don't think they'd mind any man using force on them to get sex".

There was no PC way to get of this. I couldn't hit defenceless women, and I didn't know any spells that could be helpful. Also it had just struck me that the PTBs might have wanted Doyle to bring me here so I help save this race, meaning it might an act of great good in the grand scheme of things.

"Wait what about your curse!" I yelled to Angel as the locals started undressing me.

If Angelus appeared now all these women would be in danger. I wouldn't be able to protect them if I died due to Snu-Snu, not this was a bad way to go. Heck I was going to die young anyway, might as well be this way.

"Trust me I am not happy" Angel assured me.

This was when my shirt came off in shreds, and my belt unbuckled in a blur.

"For heaven's sake, guys, just dive right in!" Doyle shouted at us.

I didn't know what to do with my hands so I just started drinking from the flask, hoping that it would loosen me up as it had for the hybrid, and soon my boxers dropped to the ground.

"Just lay back, close your eyes and think of England!" Angel advised loudly "Isn't that what any woman who sleeps with an English man does?".

It wasn't easy to be offended while several females try to provide oral sex at the same time, yet I somehow managed it.

"I'm Welsh!" I shouted.

That was the last thing I was able to say as a golden coloured alien woman with huge breasts shoved my head into her chest. At this point I decided to go with the flow.

(Line Break)

 **Angel's Place LA**

As suddenly as we'd left we were back. Everything was the same as how we'd left it only Giles was here.

"Damien, Oh, thank god. Are you all right?" he asked "And why are you all naked?".

The glasses were off and polished in record time.

"Yes, well, hm. Well" he tried to say "I suppose you err would be"

Angel was already finding us clothes. Which was generous of him because I knew he hated it when he had to wear someone else's clothes, and no doubt he hated anyone wearing his, he was very possessive of his outfits.

"Well yes" Giles said "What was I... Oh yes well I just got back from meeting with a women who claimed she was from another dimension, one somewhat similar enough to our own. I didn't believe her, despite her being orange, at least not at first, but she told me that they had, Erma borrowed one or two, um, shall we say sperm donors for, well, long-term use".

Doyle, who like Angel and I was quickly getting dressed, seemed annoyed.

"Long-term? You mean, there could have been more!?" he yelled "What did you do?".

I was wondering how long we were gone, it felt like weeks, but the flow of time in another dimes ions could be funny so we may have only been gone for hours.

"As soon as I realised what had happened, I took my visitor to your home Damien, which proved that she wasn't a demon, since demons can't enter there" Giles told me "While the orange woman explained what was going on we worked on a way of recovering you. Miss Calender explained about sperm banks and artificial insemination so you don't need to worry about them calling upon your services again. Although I have trouble understanding why a race so advanced that they can transport people to other dimensions never came up with the idea of artificial insemination".

I sighed.

"Yeah it made no sense" I complained "They had no concern for genetic diversity. They didn't even make sure it would work. They grabbed a vampire who shoots blanks, and a guy whose only half human and who might not be compatible even if a pure human is".

Giles cleaned his glasses again.

"When you've, um, recuperated, I'd be very grateful if you could give me a report of what happened" he requested. "It's for scientific purposes purely, you can leave out any personal details".

I had questions, many questions.

"Did the leader women explain why we were chosen?" I enquired.

Were now all dressed as such Giles didn't avoid looking at me, nor did he speak uncleanly.

"The orb you must have picked up would only transport men who fit certain parameters as I understand it. Warriors, strong men" the Watcher told us "Who triggered it?".

I pointed at Angel.

"Well there's no accounting for taste" Giles commented.

Angel ignored that, and the Watcher soon changed the subject.

"Never mind you're back now" he said directly to me "And the girls will be happy to have you return home. They were upset a first but once they came to understand you weren't taken by choice and that were saving a race from extinction they calmed down, although we did have restrain Buffy at one point".

Well she go off the handle at times. Normally I could restrain her, but I hadn't been there.

"No surprise there" Doyle commented "Girls really like you. I had a couple of minutes free time once in a while and I could tell you must have been having a good time, I've never saw so many smiling ladies after I saw a group climbing off you".

This didn't amuse me.

"If I had any energy to spare I'd slay you I told Doyle" I said

This just made him chuckle as he knew I didn't really mean it.

"Well at least when the kids say 'Mommy, tell me about Daddy,' she'll be able say something more than, 'I'm sorry, honey, it was all over so fast'" Doyle joked.

Okay that one did amuse me, alas it hurt to laugh.

(Line Break)

 **Mansion. Sunnydale.**

"Found them!" called out Willow who came into the living room while carrying a big book "Bodaceia is a dimension populated entirely by females after it lost its menfolk, there's no mention of them transporting men to their world, but that makes sense as your the only one to come back alive".

I was confused, and also still in pain, but still I felt as if I was starting to understand things. These Bodaceia demons, or aliens, must have sent their orbs to different worlds and the devices brought warriors to their world for breeding.

When they were done they were sent back home, only problem was that human men simply couldn't have much sex and survive. However Doyle, Angel and I weren't human, in one way or another we had demon powers to call upon.

As to why their leader to come to this world for some reason. Really none of made sense, the Bodaceia aliens were truly odd creatures.

"Huh they really do like those aliens from Star Trek" Buffy remarked when she looked at the book Willow was holding. "Only there not blue, that must be make up in the show".

It wasn't a well known fact but many demons found work in TV and the movies in parts that required them to act as aliens, but without the need for lots of make up. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the last remaining male Bodaceia demons had run in Gene Roddenberry after somehow coming to Earth.

Although I wasn't sure they should be called demons, or if they really lived in a Hell dimension, as my Slayer sense hadn't been trigged while there. Maybe they actually were aliens.

Also when Lorne had read Doyle he'd not warned me about what had happened. I'd have to ask why.

"Wasn't Bodaceia a Celtic warrior woman who fought the Romans?" I then asked.

Willow would know, she seemed to know everything aside from not how to talk too fast and do stupid things with magic.

"That's Boadicea" the red head corrected as she closed the book "Now put the ice pack between your legs".

I felt like someone had skipped a page in the book. Right up until Willow did the task for me. While my girls weren't exactly tending to me they at least weren't mad at me. I wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. Perhaps we'd all been totally messed up by all the things we'd seen and done.

"Oh that feels good" I said.

Faith snickered.

"I bet your the first guy ever to be happy that he can't get an erection when alone with a group of horny girls" she said "Well the first straight guy anyway".

Some of the girls exchanged odd looks.

"I'm not horny" Amy protested as she looked up from her homework.

Faith snickered again.

"So if DM was up for and he wanted you right now, you'd say no?" she asked the witch.

Amy struggled for an answer.

"I'd get horny for him" she said after thinking about it.

That was a good save.

"No one is allowed to get horny for at least a month" I ordered.

My command wouldn't be obeyed I was sure, but I had to try.

"Make that two months" I then added.

Even with my enhancements, which were many as my markings and magical items were added to my Slayer ones, I'd nearly died. I was surprised Doyle hadn't snuffed it, as for Angel no amount of sex could dust him. Also his curse hadn't been removed so clearly there was more than just fucking involved when it came to breaking that curse. Must involve making love rather simple sex, how sappy was that?

"I'm back from the Citadel!" I heard Fred call out "I've healing potions, stamina potions, and Cure disease potions in case you picked up an STD!".

At the same time everyone in the room backed away from me a little, it was a really good thing that I never wanted to have sex ever again.

(Line Break)

 **Beach. Sunnydale.**

When Giles arrived at the beach he saw something totally expected. In his view there were two basic reactions to demonic incursions made by normal humans: panic, which was understandable or complete rationalisation which was stupid. This wasn't either.

Instead of that he found Faith, some sort fishman and a cricket bat. The fishman was cowering with his arms protecting his body as body as best he could from Faith's attack.

"GIVE HIM BACK!" the teen from Boston screamed as she beat the demon.

Even fishmen can't talk when beaten repeatedly, so any response he had, assuming he spoke English at all, would have made little sense Faith, but right now she wasn't thinking logically.

As for Giles he was enraged, this not proper at all.

"Faith!" he called out. "That is all wrong. You need to work on your follow through! You can throw your shoulder out swinging like that!"

He took the bat and showed her how it was done. Normally he wouldn't do such a thing, but Faith's phone call earlier had left the Watcher a little off balance.

"See, if you do it like this, you're using less effort and can cause more pain. Also works better if you aim for the kidneys" he instructed "At least with demons who have humanoid bodies".

It was after his job to train young women to fight demons, although normally not one who wasn't a Slayer.

"Oh, thanks, G-Man" she said.

She swung the cricket bat again, this time aiming more for the torso.

"Good job, but don't go too far when you're pulling back for another swing" he instructed "Now what happened Damien?".

Lucky for the fishman Faith stopped beating him so she could explain matters more fully than she had over the phone.

(Line Break)

 **Deep One Colony.**

I awoke to find myself wearing nearly nothing, just my swimming shorts, which thankfully did leave something to the imagination.

"You too huh" said a familiar voice.

I really had no idea what was going on.

"Huh?" I asked intelligently.

As my vision cleared I saw Angel, who was fully dressed, standing over me.

"Uh, okay" I said before glancing around.

We were in a sea cave of some sort, but it clearly didn't fill completely with water as could be seen by the seaweed line along the wall. What seemed out of place were carved marble pillars, and frescoes. They gave the place a Roman feel, but this was the wrong part of the world for that sort of thing, wasn't it. How far Sunnydale was I? Questions for later.

"Who are these guys?" I asked.

I gestured to my fellow captives. One of which was Doyle who tied up and gagged with seaweed for some reason. Also for some reason Angel had not removed the gag.

"Mexican fishermen" Angel explained "I was investigating the disappearance of fishermen off the cost of LA. I guess the demons that grabbed us have been raiding up and down the coast".

Which meant these attacks were wide spread, but they hadn't made the papers. Must not have taken anyone who mattered.

"And Doyle?" I asked "Did he attack them".

Angel shook his head.

"No he just wouldn't shut up" the vampire explained "They tied him up and I just don't want to untie him because he gets on my nerves".

I really hoped they started to get along soon. They'd make a good team.

"So, we can see because of the light from the water, I guess that means we're close to the surface" I surmised.

Assuming some sort of magic wasn't at play.

"Yeah," Angel replied, "but who knows how far from shore we are. And from personal experience I know that fishmen are faster swimmers than humans, so we'd never get away without a fight".

Could vampires even swim, they didn't really breathe and from what i remembered humans were buoyant because we'd weigh less than the water we swam in because our lungs are full of air, like a balloon. But again that was a question for later. Besides it was day time still he'd burst into flames as soon we reached the surface.

"Okay then" I said as glanced around for a weapon.

Angel did the same.

"Can you use seaweed as a whip?" he asked.

This wasn't as odd a query as it sounded as Angel knew that Slayers have innate skill with weapons, however the whip wasn't one of those weapons.

"I'm sure Buffy can, but my last attempt to use one ended when I rather painfully attempted to emulate Indiana Jones," I replied.

This was followed by no words being exchanged for a few moments.

"Okay, so let's go back to planning our escape" I said after a while "Because if we don't. The womenfolk are going to burst in here and save our bits just as the demon we've been captured for is about to eat us, and we'll never, ever hear the end of it".

(Line Break)

 **Beach. Sunnydale**.

On the surface, Amy was doing a little scrying. School had ended for the day and only when it had finished was she informed about the latest crisis. A crystal on a piece of string stopped its movements and hit the map. Which was a spot directly at their location.

"Underground lair" Buffy stated.

"How do you know?" Faith asked.

The Slayer sighed

"Because it's always an underground lair," Buffy complained "For once, I'd like a nice high rise apartment lair, or a holiday resort, maybe with some leather couches and fruity drinks. But no! I have to climb in the sewers, or dig through pits and mass graves that haven't been disturbed by humans for hundreds of years and ruin another set of clothes!".

Amy was annoyed at both Buffy and Faith this point. She'd heard that speech in different variations a few dozen times, and Faith really should have known better by now.

"I'm sure that eventually, you'll find a bad guy that is more concerned with his appearance than his evil plots," Amy said, while putting an arm around the Slayer's waist.

Buffy leaned in for a hug.

"It's just not fair, and I only bought this jacket yesterday" she whined.

(Line Break)

So far we'd failed to escape and now I was sensing demons.

"We're in trouble now" I said.

Angel looked confused.

"Why?" he enquired.

I gestured to the wall.

"Because here they come," I replied.

A small legion of fishmen appeared when a wall slide away. They were armed with tridents that were carved out of coral and bound with seaweed if I had to guess.

"They are to going to bring us to their Leader" I whispered to Angel and Doyle "The big bads always like to gloat".

As it turned out we weren't taken directly to their leader, this was the throne room, the big fancy chair tipped me off to that, but the queen, king, emperor, prime minster or president, of the fish people wasn't here. Which gave me time to read the writing on the walls, literally. It was R'lyehian.

"Oh these guys are the Deep Ones" I realised.

Angel didn't seem confused.

"I've read Lovecraft" he said.

Doyle may have been confused, it was hard to tell since his gag limited his facial expressions and prevented speech.

"They are -nyth, which means servant of, then 'fhalma means mother, and she's fhtagn, which means sleeping" I said while reading "gnaiih means father, hupadgh means born of".

I then swore.

"How can the same crap happen to us twice in the same month" I complained.

Angel was confused and expressed this.

"If I'm reading this right these Deep Ones serve their queen, who sleeps, then shugg gnaiih k'yarnak something something something something gof'nn. Which translates roughly as Realm of Earth father exchange something something something something children. Also there is hupadgh of shugg gnaiih. Err born of Realm of Earth father. After that we've got 'fhalma something something wgah'n".

I took some time to ponder.

"My best guess is" I said after a while "The Deep Ones serve the Queen by bringing her human men to father children with her and this makes a new queen who goes on to rule. Either she or maybe they replace the current queen or they set up a new home, a bit like ants".

I turned to Angel

"Even if the queen of the fish folk is like Zora I can't go through that again I'm still recovering from the last time women wanted my DNA" I said to the vampire.

I could well imagine the single sperm left my balls floating around while wondering where all his mates had gone.

"Okay so lets beat them up, grab their weapons, and then try to find a way out" Angel suggested while gesturing at the guards "You were dry when you arrived so you didn't swim here, so there must be a way to the surface".

That was the best plan we had and at the start it worked well. The fishy legionnaires did not expect a fight to take place. And the fishmen, while quite strong, were rather ungainly out of their water, and their tactics were not quite as good as it should have been. You'd think such an ancient race would have skill at kicking ass.

Mere seconds into the fight I tripped one, wrenched the tridents out of its hands and kicked another in the face. That hurt a lot because fishmen have rather scaly and pointy faces, and I wasn't wearing any shoes. I'd never used a trident, however the pricple was the same as many other weapons, put the stabby end in the other guy.

Alas the battle soon turned, the fishmen were many, and only Angel as well as myself were willing or able to fight.

"Don't worry," I assured Angel "Buffy, and some witches are due right about..."

There was a massive explosion of sorts on the other side of the grotto as Buffy pulled a Kool-aid-Man and busted right through the wall, holding what I thought to be a Brute Gravity Hammer of all things. Clearly she'd gone weapons shopping at the Citadel without me.

Amy and Faith soon follow, no others however, guess they must have had something to do after school and didn't know about all this. That or they divided into groups while looking for me.

"Now" I finished.

I'd sensed my fellow Slayer coming, my Slayers senses were becoming really fine tuned, must be the mystic upgrades.

With Buffy's aid and Amy's spells the tide of battle soon turned again. The fishmen soon ran for it, showing that they had more brains most demons, had to be a result of their inter-breeding with humans so often.

"I doubt they'll try again this again soon" Angel said to the group "But we should keep an ear out for any talk of missing sailors".

As for me I had other concerns. Namely wearing something.

"Did you bring me any clothes?" I asked.

"You're not changing," Buffy said.

This confused me.

"You forgot clothes didn't you" I accused my fellow Slayer.

She was smiling at me, it was unsettling.

"Even if we did, you're not changing," the girl said flatly.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because I said so" she replied.

She was looking at my muscles now.

"Aren't I the one in charge" I reminded.

Buffy smiled at me again.

"Just this once I am" she said "and your not getting dressed. I had to come down to this underground lair and ruin another jacket. You owe me".

Fair enough. It had been a while since Buffy and I had been intimate, that must be making her a bit loopy.

"Oh hey Angel" Buffy then greeted "I didn't notice you were here".

Okay now I didn't mind being nearly naked.


	4. Chapter 4

**Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 4**

 **The Mayor's Office. Sunnydale.**

Richard Wilkins was sitting at his desk his attention totally given over to the newspaper, he was just about done as Alan Flinch the Deputy Mayor nervously coughed in order to gain his attention.

Once he had it the Deputy Mayor gently placed a trident, one made from coral, on his boss's desk, Alan Flinch had made sure the odd weapon was clean before bringing into the Major's office, he knew how his boss could get about dirty weapons on his desk.

"Ah so the Deep Ones have returned" said the Mayor.

The Deep Ones were a race of intelligent ocean-dwelling creatures, more or less human-shaped but with a fishy, froggy appearance. They had the habit of breeding with humans and although the Deep One hybrid offspring were born with the appearance of a normal human being, they gradually assumed the appearance of their Deep One ancestors as they matured.

"Odd they don't normal carry weapons" Wilkins mused "Must be gathering mates for their queen".

Each colony of Deep Ones had a queen, who was the only female, and she was rather more attractive to the human eye than her subjects, something the Mayor knew first hand having met one when he was younger.

The Queen slept for years, sometimes decades, only awakening to eat and breed, thankfully not at the same time. She too mated with humans, only rather than go the surface like the males of the species she had human men brought to her.

"Well, let's just keep an eye out for now" Wilkins said while checking out the weapon more carefully "No sense angering a Deep One Queen, at least not until after the dedication".

Once he was indestructible as well as immortal the Mayor wouldn't tolerate demons coming to his town and abducting his citizens without his permission, but since he was still vulnerable the Mayor didn't want to upset such a possibly powerful enemy.

"Now as for..." the leader of Sunnydale started to say.

Suddenly the door to his office burst open. Wilkins spun in his chair and Finch yelped and dived for cover as man appeared. He was carrying what could only be called a ray gun. Also he was glad head to foot in armour, not like a knight, this armour looked it came from the future, and in sense it did.

"What do you want?" Wilkins's asked, staring at the intruder while his not so courageous Deputy cowered and whimpered "Money, power, because I can get it for you".

The man's reply, it if was a man, was to fire his energy weapon, which stunned the Mayor. Finch looked suitably petrified as unknown attacker pointed his weapon at him.

"Please don't" he pleaded.

Unexpectedly the armoured man didn't. Rather than fire he took off his helmet.

"Mr Finch we don't have much time" he said "I've only stunned the Mayor and I need to know if he has any fail safes in place should be die or be taken out of Sunnydale".

Finch knew exactly who this man was, and because he did he didn't hesitate in answering any questions that were sent his way.

(Line Break)

 **Library. Sunnydale High.**

"Come on Wes" I pleaded "I worked all summer while Buffy was away, all I'm asking for is a few weeks off".

This was perfect time for to take a holiday. I'd dealt with the Mayor, he wasn't dead, but he wasn't in this dimension, and wouldn't be the big bad for this season.

Before long the Deputy Mayor would be running this town and he was under my thumb, effectively putting me in charge of the town. However there's be a delay before Finch took office.

"Buffy is here" I then said "She's got school so you'll have a Slayer right here on campus if you need one".

Plus my fellow Slayer might soon start reading minds, assuming that in this time line she still killed a demon and got some of its blood on her, it was best for me to not be around should that happen.

I could end up staying away for months, as I had plans that involved me finding trouble in another part of the country. I could spend weeks chasing a made up demon across different states while really I'd be having fun in other realities.

"Well I suppose a holiday isn't out of the question" my Watcher said "A short break to recharge your batteries might make you a more effective Slayer".

Me being more effective would only reflect better on him in the eyes of superiors so it made sense. As for his superiors, I didn't care what they thought about me, but I didn't want them coming after me either. I remembered that story Zaras had told me about the Slayer that had died because she'd refused to do her duty, her Watcher had shot her.

I didn't need more enemies, and I'd met the Watcher's special operations team, they were hardcore and not stupid either. If the Watcher's sent those guys after me I'd have to worry about people with machine guns, and perhaps even more deadly weapons.

"And I promise that if see any vampires while I'm away I'll stake them" I assured Wes.

Which was true, because I really didn't like vampires. Not that I intended to go to a place with vampires, via the Citadel I could go to any number of worlds.

"Although this isn't a good time" Wes was now saying "I just got off the phone with Giles who informed me that a Watcher called Sam Zabuto is bringing his ward Kendra Young here to Sunnydale, while we can't be certain signs suggest that should anything happen to Miss Summers, Kendra would be called next".

There was no way to know if my death would activate another Slayer, and I'd be dead if that happened so I didn't care.

"From what I understand Kendra Young's parents gave her up for Slayer training at a very early age after she was identified as a Potential Slayer" Wes told me "So unlike yourself and Miss Summers, Miss Young did not grow up with a family and attend traditional schooling, she might seem odd to you".

I knew a little about Kendra from watching the show, but that wasn't a lot.

"Why are they coming here?" I wondered.

Seemed odd to me. I couldn't imagine Giles wanting Buffy to met her possible successor should she die. Kendra would serve as a reminder that Buffy was replaceable and recently my fellow Slayer had been feeling a little out of place I sensed. However since she'd saved me from the Deep Ones her mood had improved. Perhaps she'd be okay.

"Miss Young is going to be staying with Miss Summers" my Watcher told me "Her Watcher thinks his ward could learn a lot from the active Slayer. Also he wants to met you, there's never been a Slayer who wasn't a young woman, no doubt he'll want to compare your fighting abilities, and how you track demons, things like that, so he can compare your methods to past Slayers of this world".

Wes then did a Giles impression by taking off his glasses and cleaning them before speaking again.

"Off the record so to speak Mr Zabuto has sensed that a dark power was going to rise here in Sunnydale" I was informed "That was why he made the arrangements, however during a recent phone call he informed Mr Giles that the danger has passed. Yet neither you or Miss Summers have reported defeating any powerful demons of late, as such Mr Zabuto felt we should combine our resources for an investigation".

I figured the dark power had been the Mayor who had been taken care of by the Council of Gothics, for a price I'd had to pay.

"As such we might have a period of calm" Wes was now saying "So I will give you some time off once Mr Zabuto and Miss Young have settled in".

While Giles was aware of nearly everything my group got up, and my Watcher didn't, my team had to hide a lot. Wes was aware that CRD made advanced software, but he was under the impression that we'd gotten that tech due an unplanned trip through a portal.

If the other Watchers were to discover just how much in the way of power and resources I really had they'd consider me a threat which was why I was going to need to make some arraignments before our visitors got here.

(Line Break)

 **Airport. Sunnydale.**

I leaned against a pillar in the airport, feeling a bit naked as I held up a sign with 'Zabuto and Young' written on it. Being in an airport, even a small one pre-9/11 in a different world, meant I'd had leave my weapons behind in the car. I still had a stake on me as a sharp piece of wood hidden my coat wouldn't trigger any alarms, but I was used to carrying a knife at least.

While I was exposed, this visit had served my interests, with visitors coming I'd an excuse to tighten my group's security. I well remembered the MOO (Mothers Opposed to the Cult) incident in the show which nearly resulted in a successful Witch/book burning.

Since I knew this could still happen, despite this being an alternate time line to the show, I'd used this visit to get my witches to keep all magical materials either at my home or the CRD factory. I'd even convinced Giles to move nearly all his books to the factory were they could secured.

To cover this I'd spoken to Principal Flutie, who had never been eaten by hyenas, and offered to donate a lot of new books to the school while getting rid of the out of date material. This was already happening and would bring the books Giles loved so much to the business he managed for me.

CRD had also undergone some changes, we'd locked and hidden all the advanced tech while leaving everything else in the open for Zabuto to examine, knowing he report back to his Council, he would only see things such as state of the crossbows, stake launchers, plenty of medieval weapons, and magical supplies for our witches. All of which he'd be expecting to see.

I sighed as people started to file out of the gate and it didn't take long before an older gentleman with grey hair, dark skin and a goatee, walked up to me along with Kendra. She looked as she did in the show, she seemed a little timid, but I put that down to her not being the Slayer, naturally without her super powers coming to the hellmouth would be unnerving.

"Mr. Mason, I presume?" he said.

I nodded and tucked the sign I'd been carrying under my arm

"I am Sam Zabuto, and this my charge, Miss Young" he introduced.

He then put out his hand to shake. I noted that his grip was firm, and since I was a Slayer that meant he actually had a very solid grip otherwise I wouldn't have noticed.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Zabuto," I replied "I'm Damien Mason, I'll be taking to met with Mr Giles and Mr Wyndham-Price".

I finished shaking his hand before offering the same to the girl

"Hello, Miss Young" I greeted "Welcome to California".

I wondered if I was making her nervous because it took her a moment to take my hand.

"Hello Sir," she said as we shook hands.

Her grip was far less impressive than her Watcher's, but since he lacked Slayer powers she was just a small teenage girl.

"I believe you have transportation?" Zabuto asked.

To this I nodded.

"Nothing that fancy " I said with a small grin before leading them outside.

My car was fancy, and I could tell that we were impressed as we loaded into the car and started the long drive to dear old Sunnyhell

"Do you want to see where you'll be staying first or should I take you the library, we'll be meeting there this evening" I said to the Watcher.

Zabuto thought for a second before nodding

"I believe meeting with my fellow Watchers should be our priority" he said.

This I agreed with. Best to show them CRD later.

"Very well," I commented before driving towards the local high school.

(Line Break)

 **Library. Sunnydale.**

The only warning I got about the needle was when the mystical markings on my right arm started to itch, as that was happening I shook my head and found my Watcher standing over me, looking as if he was going to inject me something.

In a blur I reached out and grabbed Wes's arm, then I very nearly broke it, causing him to shout out and drop the needle.

"Tell me why I shouldn't break every done in your body" I demanded of the Watcher.

He struggled to answer.

"Its a test" he explained "Your Cruciamentum. In the weeks prior to the Slayer's 18th birthday, Watchers are forced to inject the Slayer with chemicals such as muscle relaxants and adrenaline suppressors, which gradually weaken their powers".

I knew about this, however my birthday was still a couple of months away.

"Anything else you want to tell me?" I asked Wes.

I still had a firm grip on his arm.

"Watchers are ordered to keep the Slayer unaware of the test. Afterwards, the Slayer would be taken to a location selected by the Council and pitted against a particularly dangerous vampire. The intent of the practice is to establish the Slayer's intelligence and practical capabilities, testing her ability to out-think her enemies as well as outfight them".

I let go of Wes.

"We weren't even sure if the injections would work on you the same way they work on other Slayers" he was now saying "So it was decided to test the formula on you, so that we could increase the dosage if needs be".

Made sense, things like body mass played a part when it came to injecting people with things like sedatives. Buffy I would require different amounts.

"Is that why Zabuto is in town?" I wished to know.

Wesley nodded as he took the time to straighten his appearance.

"Yes, but not in way you think" he told me "Mr Giles and Mr Zabuto are against the Cruciamentum. They managed to convince me that we need stand up to the Council, we want to end it, then Travers ordered me to start giving you the injections".

That bastard.

"But the test is cancelled if the Slayer finds out about it" Wes was now saying "And we can use that to help convince Travers to end the Cruciamentum once and for all. Its only remained a tradition for this long because the older members of the Council support it. Not many of the younger Watchers agree with it".

By now I was thinking fast. The Watchers Council was descended from the Shadow Men, the creators of the First Slayer in prehistoric Africa as such they'd had a long time to gather knowledge of all matters mystical.

At some point, the Watchers made Great Britain their centre of operations. Other offices were located in Munich, Switzerland, Rome, and Melbourne. So they were a big organisation and things got hostile between my group and them, well it would be ugly.

"I know that Watcher HQ is in London, but where exactly?" I wished to know.

Now seemed a good time to go see this Mr Travers.

(Line Break)

 **Watcher HQ. London.**

"So Damien, how can the Council be of help?" Quentin Travers, leader of the Watchers Council enquired as he offered his guest a seat.

The male Slayer took the seat offered and attempted to look more relaxed than he was feeling. It was easier said than done but he had the added comfort of knowing, through his enhanced senses, just how nervous Quentin Travers was.

He had already worked out what he needed from Travers and his organisation and just what he was prepared to offer in return.

"Believe me Mr Travers if it weren't for the Cruciamentum I wouldn't be here now. But these aren't normal times and I think we both have goals that are better achieved if an agreement was reached" Damien replied.

"And those goals would be?" the Head Watcher asked.

Travers was intrigued. He had expected this visit to be on behalf of the Slayer; the female one, but he hadn't thought that the male Slayer would come here and act so civilised.

"Your goal, is to fight the forces of evil" Damien said "And I believe that the Cruciamentum does not aid you in this. Perhaps it had some value once, but so did the Tower of London, but we don't lock people in there anymore even if it was a tradition".

The head Watcher was again surprised. He'd thought there would be threats or arguments that debated the morality of the Cruciamentum.

"You may have a point" was all Travers said.

The Head Watcher wanted to hear what Damien could offer and how much it would cost. Not that he thought for a moment what would offered would be monetary. Damien Mansion was wealthy, but not when compared to the Council.

"To put things simply, you need Buffy and you need me" the male Slayer stated.

Travers raised a hand, it was time to get to the real issue.

"What is it exactly that you want from me?" he asked "and what do you have to offer in return?".

Rather than verbally reply Damien handed over the folder he'd been carrying. Within was information, always of value, but this was more. There was stuff about portals here, just basic information, but the lure of more.

Also there were examples of symbols that could be used in powerful warding magic. Not much was actually in the folder, but it promised a gold mine.

What Travers didn't know was even if Damien handed over all the promised information it wouldn't add to a fraction of what he had access to. The Watchers might get their hands on a lot information about portals, but it wouldn't led anywhere since they wouldn't have the scientific knowledge required to make a Sliding Device.

"That's just what I was able to put together before leaving home" the Slayer explained "My team and I have more, and we're willing to share it you, in exchange you cancel the Cruciamentum, and you don't bother my friends and I. Mr Giles will call you if we need information from you and I'm sure Mr Mr Wyndham-Price will send his reports, but other than that I want the other Watchers staying out of our affairs. I will of course send you more tidbits of any useful information I find, as long you keep us informed of any threats that could be heading our way".

Travers held out his hand to shake on the deal and Damien gripped the slightly clammy appendage. A deal had been made.

(Line Break)

 **CRD. Sunnydale.**

Giles wasn't sure. He was uncertain about what I'd done.

"It should be fine" he finally said "Travers is not a good man, of course he's not a foolish one either. If he thinks he can benefit from this alliance you've created he'll abide by it, but I still think we should be careful. Don't give them to much".

This I agreed with it, best to feed Travers only the scraps from my table so he remained hungry for more, if I starved him he might turn on me hoping to take more, but if I overfed him he might start thinking that he didn't need me anymore.

"What about Wes and Zabuto?" I asked "Now that I've given the Council of Watchers more information do think we can bring more people on board?".

Giles considered this for a while.

"Yes" he finally said "But we should limit what they know. They must not realise how well you can control the portals, or how much advanced technology you have access to. Travers will no doubt figure out that you have means of accessing portals sooner or later, so we'll let Wesley report back to him, but he must believe that you can't control the portals and that you've ended up in odd places. Now and again I'll arrange for something of minor value to be sent to the Council, some of those gems you find in Mareth, maybe a minor magical item. Enough to make them think its worth risking your lives, but not worth risking themselves. Over time I think Wesley and Zabuto will start to trust us, we shall ease them into things and bring them over to our side".

Giles had been thinking along the same as myself.

"Well then I'm taking a few weeks off" I informed the Watcher "I need a break, but don't worry I'll check in and I can portal back here if you need another fighter".

Giles nodded, and then went back to whatever it was he'd been doing at his desk. Paperwork for the business it looked like.

As for me I had a few small matters to deal with before I left on a new adventure. Since Xander had died there was no around to deal with the Jack O'Toole Zombie guy. I'd have to do it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 5**

 **Clan Ship. Realm of Gothics**

Everything here was so strange to me. The rooms were strange. The objects in the room were strange. Heck, even the walls in the room were strange.

Currently I was sitting in very large room, it was a sort of living area I guessed it was suppose to my chamber during this hunting trip. There wasn't very much in the way of furniture, at least not that I could identify.

I was sitting on some sort of cushion in front of a low, metal table. A few feet to my right was a door that led out to the corridor, to my left was a large window that took up almost all of the wall. I doubted it was made of glass, in fact it might just be a huge TV screen that showed me outside.

Either way the view was breathtaking. The ship was currently orbiting the planet that was taking up most of the window. Yet as big as it was I could not see the Citadel from up here. Which made me realise the world must the equal of Earth in terms of size, or at least close.

Looking at the realm as a world from above also gave me an understanding of just how much Planeswalker Gothic had created. He'd made a planet, that had ice caps, deserts, forests, grasslands, rivers, seas, mountains.

Then there was the space around that world, and the planet's moon. It was just like Earth's moon only it didn't have craters, which made sense as this universe ended once you got past the sun and moon so there was no space junk to impact the moon's surface.

As the ship began to move away from the world I saw the sun, which is this plane of existence orbited the planet, rather the other way around, still the amount of light it gave was impressive, so I didn't look directly at it.

While you could see stars when in the Citadel, there were none in what passed for outer space in this reality. Those stars were in fact solar energy collectors and at night they glowed due to the energy they had collected. Very cool.

The sheer scale of this creation was mind boggling. I simply couldn't comprehend how this could be done, I could only imagine the sheer amount of power and knowledge involved. Also I wondered what Planeswalker Gothic must have done to gain that kind of power and knowledge.

After I was done looking I turned away from the window to examine more of the room I'd be staying in during this weekend away. Now I was facing a door leading to some unknown room. There was a set of double doors behind me, maybe leading to the sleeping area. To the left of the double doors was some sort of trophy display case, it was empty and it closed when I touched the wall to the side of it.

To the right of the display case was a space for armour/weapons storage, I knew this as there was a set of armour on display, Yautja in make clearly, but modified for humans.

If put on it the only parts of my body that would exposed would be the parts of my arms between the shoulder pads and the gauntlets. Under the armour was a layer of something that reminded me of a fishing net.

There was also one of those plasma weapons that Yautja hunters mounted on their shoulders, that seemed seemed rather awkward to me. Could take some getting use to as I sure it didn't want superheated matter whizzing past my face.

I saw the mask, this was like the ones worn by Predators, but it had clearly been altered for human use like the armour had. Hopefully it would allow me to see in more than infra-red otherwise I'd never be able to use it hunt vampire, they didn't produce body heat.

It was my armour, I'd paid for it using credits while on the Citadel, credits gained by trading what I could find of worth. Then I'd waited only a few hours for it to be forged. The Citadel of Gothics had machines called nano-forges which allowed to build anything they had a blueprint for as long as they had enough power and raw materials.

Aside from the plasma caster, there was a combistick, another basic weapon of the Yautja. The Combistick was a telescopic spear-like weapon that is about 2–2.5 ft long when closed up and around 6–8 ft long when fully extended.

The metal used to make the weapon was unknown to me but I'd been informed that ti could withstand the acid of the Xenomorph species so it had to be tough stuff. This extendible weapon could be used to great effect by me as while it wasn't a spear, it was close enough that my innate weapons skills that came with being a Slayer should allow me to use it.

Power the Citadel had almost IN unlimited amounts of thanks to their re-newable energy sources, solar panels, wind farms and such, but raw materials were an issue since the Citadel didn't have a large working force for mining and running factories.

Hence why certain resources and advanced tech were worth a lot in the Citadel. As while they could turn lead into gold, turning raw materials into weapons, that took a lot more time and energy, it was just easier for Gothics to trade tech than to pay to have it produced.

Still while this armour and the weapons hadn't been cheap, in my view they were well worth the price paid.

"Damien!" someone yelled.

By passing through the double doors I made my way into what I guessed the bedroom area, and this proved to be correct. Like the main room, it was pretty bare, there was a basic but large bed, and that was it. My guess was that if there were any wardrobes or other space for personal effects they were built into the wall. The Yautja seemed dislike clutter.

When I found Fred, the only one of my harem who'd wanted to come on a hunting trip with me, and only because she wanted a look at tech they had on this ship, she arguing with a red-skinned Twi'lek woman.

She was an actual Twi'lek from the Star Wars and not a member of the demon race who looked like Twi'leks. I knew this because if she had been a demon I'd be able to sense it.

This woman, I'd not gotten her name, was acting as a guide for us while we were on the ship.

"Everyone on the Clan Ship wears this" the alien was saying "Its not just a custom, this material will make you more comfortable".

Fred was not happy.

"Its see-through" she complained.

Well it was, sort of, but it came with an undergarment that would cover more than if she went to the beach. In fact right now she was naked, and was making no attempt to cover herself.

"Fred just wear the space clothes" I said "If you don't they'll never let you study the drive they use for multiverse travel".

Giving in the alien woman helped Fred into the clothes she had brought her. First, she slipped into the undergarments, they were black and stretchy, much like a two-piece bathing suit. The alien then helped her into a layer of some sort of net that covered her torso, arms, and legs. It was similar to the layer that would go under my armour only it hugged Fred's curves and was more transparent.

"No offence, but this is why I hate it when have Americans on board" the alien said.

I'd never imagined a person from another galaxy saying that, and she noticed my surprise.

"Sorry its just that they always look down on me because I'm an indentured servant" the red skinned person said.

Fred took this the wrong way, and I doubted the studded collar the Twi'lek was wearing helped.

"You're a slave!" she yelled.

The alien lady sighed.

"No I use to be a slave" she corrected "Now I serve my master because I chose to, and because he freed me from slavery. Plus I get shelter, food, and pay. Upon completion of the contract, all indentured servants within Clan Gothic are granted freedom and I'll get an apartment at the Citadel. I was thinking of becoming a maid, I'm use to cleaning, and those outfits are so cute".

Fred wisely decided to give up at this point.

"I'm just here to see the engines" she stated.

Now it was the alien who looked confused.

"But your branded?" she asked "Isn't this Gothic your Master?".

Indeed she was, on her right shoulder she had my mark, a symbol that no other Gothic used. This was help prevent confusion when on the Citadel as some harems contained alternate versions of the same person.

"Fred try to be tolerant of other cultures" I ordered "The Gothic who runs this ship does things his way, and its not our place to change that. Besides this is suppose to be a fun trip, don't spoil it for me".

She wasn't normally this difficult. I'd have to talk to her later and see if something else was bothering her. I'd hoped she'd be okay because she was the only one of my harem who'd been willing to come with me. The rest of girls hadn't wanted me to go hunting, aside from Faith who just didn't care, yet Fred didn't mind at all. Maybe it was because she was Texas.

Thinking along those lines made me realise that if I did pick up any trophies I'd have to store them at the Citadel since it was highly unlikely that my harem would be okay with having skulls at my place. Not that I should need their permission, but I wanted them to be comfortable at my home as many of them lived there with me.

"Fine" I'll wear the outfit" Winifred said "Even a collar if make you happy".

As it turned out there was a wardrobe in the wall, and it contained a spiked collar for Fred to wear. Which she did, but only while sulking.

"Would you like to exchange your plasma caster for a netgun?" the Twi'lek asked me "Some Hunters have trouble with shoulder mounted weaponry".

The Netgun was Yautja weapon that fired a wire net at great velocity and with great force, to trap and ensnare prey. Once fired, the net would tighten around its trapped target with sufficient force to cause the wire mesh to cut into the victim. That was not something I'd ever do to a human being, but to monsters that was fine. I'd kill them quickly once they were trapped as a warrior not a torturer.

"Yes, thank you" I replied.

The red skinned alien bowed.

"I'll return shortly with your weapon, and then I'll escort you to the bridge once you've changed" she said directly to me "If that pleases you my lord".

This I wasn't used to. I never used my titles, and I rarely heard them, although I did have a few.

"Yeah sure" was all I could say.

As soon as the alien was gone Fred spoke to me.

"At least she's nice to you!" she fumed "She seems to think I'm just here to warm your bed".

Now I was concerned.

"You will do that right?" I asked "There isn't a couch for me to sleep on, and I sense your mad".

Fred cheered up a little.

"Of course I will" she promised "Sorry I'm just a little unsettled by this ship, and my duties. I'm suppose to help you remove and put on your armour, clean your weapons, prepare your trophies for display, and do shifts in the engine room. I am not cleaning googy parts off monster head's so you can forget that".

This was fine with me.

"Tell you what" I said to Fred "After this trip I'm going to Silverymoon to check up on things, but after that if you want you can decide our next trip. Anywhere you want".

I was many things, including a Knight of Silverymoon, which meant as I a noble of that city-state, so I owned land there. I needed to ensure that it was all going smoothly. The Lady of Silverymoon had ensured that many lands and my house within the city would have someone looking after them so there was no rush.

"Well I didn't tell you this before, but there are some lectures at the university at the Citadel I want to go to" Fred told me "But you have to be a student at the university, so I was thinking I could take a step back from my work at CRD and take some classes. I need your permission to go, and its not free".

That seemed fair.

"Also I have to dress as a schoolgirl and even wear the regulation underwear" she then informed "Is the Citadel run by total perverts?".

I nodded.

"Yes it is" I answered "Because its run by me".

(Line Break)

 **Clan Ship. Realm of Gothics**

"A Mother Ship, what we call a Clan ship, or Jag'd'dja atoll in the Yautja language, is a massive, mobile base for Yautja hunters" the Twi'lek tour guide woman told us as she led us to the bridge "Clan Ships are not just mobile bases, they are craft where a number of Scout Ships can dock. These ships rarely enter conflict with another force, and are usually inhabited by a single Clan, hence why we call it a Clan Ship".

She had more to say.

"Like other Yautja craft, this craft can utilise cloaking technology that renders us invisible not just to the naked eye, but also to most sensors, making us virtually impossible to detect. Pilots of other Yautja made vessels, however, can use their vessel's scanners to locate a nearby Mother Ship" she said next.

The walls of the ship were bare metal and it was silent, even with my Slayer hearing I couldn't detect people talking or the sound of machinery. Also it seemed that Clan Gothic wasn't one for hanging artwork, or for display trophies everywhere.

"On board this ship warriors, both of the clan and visitors like yourself, can battle for respect in non-lethal combat" we were told "and you can acquire new weapons and devices from our quarter master, assuming you have anything to trade. Also if your servant isn't up to preparing your trophies we'll do that for, no charge".

That was nice. I didn't want to clean the fleshy bits off someone's head, and neither did Fred.

"If you like later I can show the trophy case in which the clan's trophies are put on display" Miss Tour Guide said "These are from kills made by the group rather a single Hunter, more personal trophies are placed in a warrior's chambers. We'll transfer your trophies to your apartment on the Citadel, again no charge".

Actually I wouldn't mind a look at their trophies. Being a Slayer made me something of a predator while I didn't normally take trophies I had looted a few weapons during my time and I suspected that Clan Gothic did as well, and that they sold many weapons. Buffy had gotten a Brute Gravity Hammer from a store on the Citadel, and that must have gotten there somehow.

"Our vessel has a few scout ships docked with it, and insertion pods, capable of launching a hunter onto a planet's surface" we were informed "But most prefer to take Scout Ships when on Hunts".

These days I was seeking bigger thrills, mostly better things to fight, but taking an insertion pod was a scary idea. I'd use a scout ship.

"As for weapons our Clan Ship has powerful plasma-beam weapons, strong enough to punch a hole from the orbit of a planet down to the deep crust" the tour guide told us "As well as a range of torpedoes, but since we re-arm at the Citadel so often we keep changing types, you'd have to ask an engineer about them".

With that we entered the bridge. Unlike human built vessels this command centre was not at the front of the craft, but deep within. Clever as it meant even if the hull of the ship was broken open the bridge wouldn't be exposed to space, and could be quite safe if they could seal off a deck that was exposed to space with say force fields.

Quickly I examined the bridge. It was a dark space lit only by the the massive view screen, which showed a starless universe, and the lights of the workstations were an all female crew did whatever it was they did.

The tour guide led us over to what I could only think of as a command throne. It was an impressive chair, elevated above the ground so as to give a clear view of the crew as they worked. This could serve as a reminder of who was in charge.

Sticking out of the top of the command throne were spikes, and on each spike was at least one skull that seemed to have been coated in metal. They might have been pure metal, but somehow I doubted it.

Some were from humans, or at least humanoids. One was clearly a xenomorph's skull and that sent a shiver down my spine. Even though I was the Slayer that childhood fear, due to having seen Alien at far too young an age, was still with me.

Upon the throne sat another version of myself, he was native to an alternate time line. Also like myself been taken from his own life and deposited in a new one. He looked like me, only he was older, and he had his hair in dreadlocks.

As I got closer I noticed that he had a scar which made me think at some point something with claws had cut into his face. Then when I was standing before him I saw that he had golden coloured eyes rather than blue. Perhaps it was an augmentation he'd gotten at the Citadel, or maybe something else. I didn't ask as it was bound to be something rather personal.

I was about to speak when an animal seemed to appear out of the shadows, I actually needed a moment to realise what I was seeing. At first I'd thought it was a wolf, but it was too big, soon I realised that it was in fact a Direwolf. Impressive that he'd been able to tame such a creature, or at least form some sort of partnership.

What happened next freaked me out. The Direwolf transformed into a human girl, who was wearing a layer of that fish net material, and clearly nothing underneath it.

"She's called Lupa, she's a total Daddy's girl" Predator Gothic told me "But don't get her mad because she does bite".

At this point I stopped looking at her, because now I felt weird for having done so, although I wasn't sure why since she wasn't my daughter.

"I'll speak with your master alone" the other me said to Fred "Amanda come and take Miss Burkle to the engine room. I'm sure she wants to see what powers our vessel".

Fred didn't say anything, but I saw her expression as a human woman came up to us.

"Run along dear the super powered men need to talk" the man on the command throne said.

For reasons I didn't bother to understand I slapped Winifred on her backside as she walked away. No doubt I'd pay for that some time later, however it had been fun.

As for him saying super powered men, while I couldn't sense anything odd about with my Slayer abilities, that just meant he wasn't a demon or mystically empowered, he could be a cyborg or be genetically engineered. Again I didn't ask as it might be something private.

"Before we head out you should check our hunting rules" advised my counterpart "I downloaded them to your data pad".

I did as he wished, and I found they were pretty simple. No killing unarmed humans, children, pregnant women or the ill. No killing other hunters. No stealing of trophies. Only take trophies from prey that were worthy, a challenge. If you get your ass kicked but are shown mercy, or someone saves your life then give over a weapon. Blow yourself up rather than be captured so that people don't get advanced tech. Mostly what I had expected.

Since I had no intention of hunting humans, unless they were dyed in the wool evil. I might be limited on what I could hunt.

"So I selected Fallout Earth for your Hunt" Predator Gothic informed "Plenty of threats to humans so you can slay them without feeling guilty, and there will be a few chances to acquire advanced tech, although be careful if you try to trade for it. That's not against the rules, you'll just look odd to the locals, and they can be jumpy".

Well that place wouldn't be the choice I'd have made, but it made sense. After all I knew the setting pretty well.

"Once we're done here head down to sickbay" he instructed "they'll give you a few shots so you don't get infected by the FEV, and they will also a rad shot, don't want you growing extra toes".

I didn't know that was a joke or not.

"Valid targets are pretty much everyone on that world other than those hiding in some settlements" I was now being told "So do you want New Vegas, Capitol Wasteland, Boston?".

I thought about it.

"The Wasteland" I answered.

Fallout 3 was the game I'd played the most out of the series as such it made the most sense to there.

"I'll find a time line when the Enclave aren't too active" Predator Gothic said "Unless you fancy a challenge?".

Those guys had plasma weapons and power armour, that was a bit much considering that most of the things I killed used medieval tech at best.

"I'd prefer to avoid getting shot at with energy weapons" I remarked.

Best to avoid the Brother of Steel too. As well as the Outcast, that would make it hard to find the best tech, but I was sure I would make do. I could buy better stuff at the Citadel, and I had other ways of making money aside from trading tech.

"Go down to the infirmary, and then I'll have someone to escort you to the shuttle bay" Predator Gothic instructed "We and some of the other hunters will take a scout ship down once we make the dimension jump, should only take about an hour, however there will be a training session before we leave, we don't want you blowing yourself up now do we?".

I did as he wished, and it wasn't until Miss Tour Guide led me off the bridge that I realised that this ship had a way of traversing the multiverse that was far more accurate that what my group had. He could pick time lines as well as places. I had to tell Fred about this.

(Line Break)

 **DC Wastelands. Fallout Earth.**

Predator Gothic, although he premiered to be called Hunter Gothic, hadn't simply dropped me on the surface of this world and left me on my own. He'd taken it upon himself to guide and train me as we hunted.

In some ways it was like going on patrol, only this time the monsters wouldn't even be aware that I was after them, at least not until it was too late. Vampires and demon in Sunnydale nearly always expected a fight with the Slayer, many even sought such a battle. Here it was different.

At top the ruins of a building that had once been a block of a offices for some pre-war business. Hunter Gothic and I looked for prey, we weren't after anything small time like a molerat or feral ghoul, up here we looked Super Mutants, the bigger the better.

Also we weren't the only Hunters. I'd not had a chance to talk with any of them, but Predator Gothic had more to his crew than women who were mere serverts.

While darkness was coming, as the sun was setting, I could now see my other self clearly enough to make out the differences between his armour and mine. Both sets of armour were jet black. He had more flesh exposed and he wore what I guessed to be utility belt. He didn't have any trophies on display, but I couldn't imagine lugging skulls around was a pain, if I were him, and in a sense I was, I'd have bracelets and necklaces made from stuff like teeth and small horns. That would be more practical.

"So is this what you do with your time?" I asked the other me "Go to different worlds and hunt the locals?".

Not so long ago I'd have found it odd to talk myself like this, but after meeting a few different versions of me it rapidly become normal. It never ceased to amaze me what a human could get used to.

"Sometimes" answered Predator Gothic "But it doesn't pay the bills, and keeping my ship flying isn't cheap. I've been a pirate a few times, I've raided the bases of pirates too, and I've salvaged tech from where ever I can".

Despite what he'd just spoken about I imagined he rather enjoyed his life. Getting to travel the multiverse as he wished, it must be rather freeing, his only commitment was to his ship, he wasn't tied down to one place like I was.

"Come let us hunt" Predator Gothic was now saying "We're meant to be having fun".

The other me slipped on his mask and then pressed some buttons on his wrist band. I assumed that he was selecting a form of vision that would both allow him to hunt prey and see me while we were invisible. At some point I'd have to ask about that as I was warded against being seen by both magic and technology.

I couldn't discuss that right now as Predator Gothic was already on the move. We left the parked scout ship behind and entered another tower spending only a second or two out in the open.

Rather than entered the tower on the ground floor we climbed a couple of stories up on the outside of the building before entering via a broken window.

"Three Super Mutants on this floor" Predator Gothic told me over the comm system in our helmets "I'll take two, you take one. Time to collect your first trophy, take him with your spear or hand to hand if your feeling brave".

We also had motion detectors so I was able to locate the lone Super Mutant. All he was doing was poking through some rubble, and since this guy was triggering my Slayer senses I figured he wasn't like Fawkes, he or it was evil, which made it okay to kill him.

I shot the creature with the netgun I'd swapped for the plasma caster, which soon had the mutated human pinned to the wall, but before the net could contract and start cutting into the yellow skinned freak I finished it off my combispear.

Predator Gothic was soon by my side. He took out a knife and began removing the mutant's head.

"Your first kill on your first hunt" he said "Be proud. We'll take the trophy to the scout ship and come back looking for more".

Sounded like a plan to me.

(Line Break)

 **Apartment. The Citadel of Gothics.**

With a wave of my hand I caused my new trophy case to become hidden behind a wall. I'd been looking at them for a while, admiring the skulls of a Super Mutant, one of those mutated bear creatures, and even an alien.

While out hunting with a few members of Clan Gothic we'd come across some aliens who'd crashed their ship and had been attacking the natives. In time honoured tradition we'd killed them and taken all their stuff.

That had just been day one, the next day we'd boarded one of the flying saucers, after Predator Gothic had used his own ship to blow up the other flying saucer. That had been wild time, we'd battled the aliens and we'd even lost a Hunter to them, some alien guy I'd never even asked for his name.

I'd traded in most of my alien tech so that I would have enough credits to buy the entire apartment tower I was currently in, and to get some upgrades. Which had not been too expensive as there weren't that many people living here on the Citadel.

My new room, one I now used to store trophies, would be private as I knew my girls wouldn't care for such grizzy displays, however I planned to add to my collection. I hunted demons all the time, and many of those creatures had horns and fangs, which could be used as decorations.

This wasn't an uncommon practice, even in recent wars on Earth body parts were taken as trophies by soldiers, despite that society as a whole disapproved of the act.

As I left that room I sighed, it was about time I headed to the Forgotten Realms to make sure things were going okay.


	6. Chapter 6

**Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 6**

 **The Citadel of Gothics.**

"Demons bound in cards" I said "Sounds like part of a game to me".

It wasn't a question, but Amy explained anyway.

"Don't worry" she said "Its not as dangerous as it sounds. I'll have a teacher to guide me, there are classes, and when I bind my first demon I'll have help".

She had more to say.

"There are proper warlocks here" she told me "Who have bound hundreds of demons, they know what they are doing, and they give proper lessons. The first demon I'd bind would just be an imp, so I wouldn't be rushing into things".

Since the Citadel was made up of many different Gothics who all had started off with different powers and talents, I could well imagine there was some warlock version of me who could control demons, like a Warlock in World of Warcraft.

However while it might be safe in the sense that a powerful demon wouldn't get lose and kill Amy, at least no here on the Citadel. There were other risks, a demon could break of her control during a battle, or the very use of dark magic could be corrupting.

"I know there are risks" Amy went on to say "I will be careful. But I need this, I can do more for the group, and if you think I'm going off the deep end then you can stop me. You know I like it when you get all commanding".

Judging by the look she was now giving me that last part had been an attempt at flirting. Lucky for me I was able to resist.

"I'll think about it" I promised "Let me talk to whomever it is giving the lessons. I'll see if its worth paying for them".

There was some value to this if done right. For example if Amy could control a fire demon she could send into a vampire nest, and let monsters kill monsters. Of course an incendiary grenade could also do that kind of job. On the other hand being able to summon a fearsome warrior demon could be handy in a large scale battle.

"Oh the teacher, she's a warlock in the harem of some version of you, told me that Daedra are easier to bind, but that we'll need Sigil Stones" Amy informed me "You could learn to bind a few warrior demons if you wanted".

I shook my head. I was the Slayer which meant killing demons not controlling them.

"There's too much on my plate as it is" I said to the witch "I've got my GRD soon, I have to patrol, and my spend time with all my girls. Plus check up on things in a few other dimensions".

I still hadn't gotten around to visiting Silverlymoon.

"But right now I need to do some more research on this Citadel" I told Amy "Want to get some ice cream before taking a look around, they claim to have ice cream from a dozen different worlds at this one place".

That idea appealed to her.

(Line Break)

 **The Citadel of Gothics.**

"If my Mom sees I have not one but two tattoos she'll ground me for life" Buffy complained as she examined her knew skin art in a mirror "This better be worth it".

I'd already gotten my girls marked with my symbol so that they could visit the Citadel without needing me to escort them, but now we were back at the tattoo place so that everyone could be inked up again.

This time they were getting anti-possession tattoo, they were on sale, and I'd decided they were important enough to bring the whole harem here. While we could handle physical threats easily enough, we could still fall victim to more spirtial creatures.

"They'll help keep you safe" I reminded my fellow Slayer "And besides its not as if it hurt".

This business, which was run by some witch who was no doubt the member of some harem, had a special cream which numbed the body part getting marked. Because of this no one had chickened out.

"Amy and I found this great ice cream place earlier" I then told my girls "I'll take you all there if your good".

There was no further complaining. Ice Cream was effective that way.

(Line Break)

 **Silverymoon. The Forgotten Realms**

The last time I'd been this hot and sweaty there had been naked women all around me. This time there was only another man in the room, and no one was naked. I'd just spent what felt like a very long time sparring with swords against Drizzt Do'Urden.

While I had the Slayer ability to use many kinds of weapons with skill despite a lack of training, my sword Khazid'hea, or Cutter, was not normal sword, it had a mind of its own, and even a personalty. It could simply be swung around like a sharp piece of metal. It had to be worked with.

Khazid'hea desired to be wielded by a great warrior, it desired to held in battle. As the Slayer I could provide the weapon with bloodshed, however only by training would I become a great warrior, and only then by learning from great warriors.

"There's trouble to the east," Drizzit said, after taking a moment to steady his breathing "I'm to leave in the morning".

While checking up on things here in Silverymoon I'd heard of trouble with the orcs, as they sometimes did, they'd united under a powerful warchief and that put everyone in the area in danger.

Normally orcs spent more time fighting each to bother the other races, and even when did cause problems they only raided caverns, farms or small villages.

However should they unite in enough numbers under a strong enough leader, they could threaten towns or even cites. Right now such an army was gathering, but the other races weren't just waiting for the orcs to attack, they were going to out to do battle.

"Do you need help?" I asked.

My weapons and tactics had proven very effective at Mithril Hall, they could do so again.

"We could always use another sword," the elf replied. "Alustriel suggested I ask you".

While I was a Knight of Silverlymoon that didn't mean I answered to Alustriel, she understood that my concerns went beyond a single world. I couldn't afford to spend my time helping with every threat to mankind and other mortal races. I had to pick my battles.

Still services on the Citadel were expensive, so it wouldn't such a bad thing to earn some more goodwill among the locals of this realm. If I aided them in battle it would be easier to buy or trade for the rare metals the Citadel desired.

"When do we leave?" I asked.

Drizzit smiled.

"At first light" he said.

(Line Break)

 **War Camp. The Forgotten Realms.**

"You want us to run away," the dwarf leader said.

It was a little more complex than that. The battle plan I'd come with required luring the orc warband into a ravine. An allied force of Silverlymoon soldiers, and dwarf warriors would stand in formations within the ravine, then when the orcs charges, and they would because they were orcs, the people on my side would run out of the ravine, but not all the way.

Once all the orcs were committed we'd seal off the way they'd come down into the ravine with carefully placed explosives. This would led to all the orcs being trapped in ravine while elven archers on both sides of the ravine would rain down arrows from above.

Also Faith had a rocket launcher, Fred had her drones which could drop grenades on the orces, plus we had some mages who would be riding flying eagles. Not sure where they'd come from, but none had been around for the battle of Mirthil Hall, which was a shame as more air support would have been handy back then.

"It's a trick" I told the dwarven leader "You'll be retreating to lure the orcs in".

I'd already placed a few mines in the ravine, they weren't switched on yet. I had to time their activation just right to avoid killing allies.

"You want us to run away from orcs," the dwarf repeated.

I sensed that I would have to chose my words carefully.

"It's only because your soldiers are so disciplined and brave that this will work," I said. "Most people would just keep on running, but your warriors will turn and fight when they get the signal".

These dwarfs were having trouble trusting me because they were from Sundabar which was largely run by dwarfs. But not dwarfs that knew me.

Sundabar was a defensible, dwarven-built fortress that became a refuge for Prince Simberuel Astalmé of Ascalhorn and his collected survivors, although I had no idea who they were. As the years passed humans grew in number within the city meaning there were many humans with the dwarven warriors here now, they however didn't want to argue about my plan.

Also Sundabr produced, armour, clay wares, copper, furniture, gold, silver, tools, and weapons, it was both a mining town and a place were the ores they dug up were put to use. This was interesting to me, but not important to my goals.

The army from Mithril Hall and Nesme were still days away, and if the orcs got here sooner than expected then it would be the Sundabr forces who met them. Hence why I needed to convince them.

"We do not run from orcs!" the dwarf officer shouted.

The sound echoed over the camp, which caught the attention of many more people.

"Listen to me" I said to the native of this world "I am Gothic the Vampire Slayer, Champion of Mareth, Knight of Silverymoon, and Hero of Mithral Hall".

I wasn't quite sure I actually had that last title, but I was trying to be impressive.

"While I look young I am a warrior who has battled creatures that you've only seen in your nightmares" I was now saying "I've waged war on many different worlds, and I have at my command many power magic users. Do you really want to make me an enemy, or would you rather I be an ally?".

I waited for an answer.

"Hmpf. Cowardly human tactics," the dwarf said with a sneer. "Very well. We'll run away".

He stomped off angrily.

"Well that went well" someone remarked.

Hopefully the battle would go better.

(Line Break)

 **War Camp. The Forgotten Realms.**

"It wasn't a proper battle," the dwarf officer.

I sat back, slumped in the largest chair with the command tent, the only one human sized. I was exhausted, and for good reason.

Outside the battlefield lay strewn with dead orcs, everything had gone to plan and because of that we'd slaughtered them. Not a single orc was left alive.

"It was a trick," the dwarf officer said. "You tricked them. It was dishonourable. They couldn't fight a proper battle".

While the battle had gone very well I covered in blood as towards the end when the orcs had been trying to give up we'd killed them all. The orcs had fought to the last refusing to surrender.

"Their main force was annihilated" said one my fellow Knights of Silverymoon "Any remnants will flee to the hills".

So we hadn't actually killed every orc, there would have been scouts and even orcs had supply lines, those would be unharmed.

"Not a victory," the dwarf said. "Not a proper one. This is shameful".

That I actually agreed with to an extent, using modern tactics and weapons against people centuries behind you in those fields was horrible.

"We were out numbered 10 to 1," I reminded the dwarf "We'll live with the shame, and you only lost a handful of men. If we'd fought fairly the orcs would be picking over our corpses. Instead of that your men get to go home to their families. Ask those mothers, wives and children if this was a victory or not".

I had a feeling they'd be grateful. However realising that still didn't get rid of the unease I felt.

Right now I really needed to enjoy my time away from Sunnydale. Maybe I could find somewhere to relax.

(Line Break)

 **High School. Sunnydale**

In another dimension Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg and Wesley Wyndham-Pryce were investigating who could behind a recent rash of grave robbing. Body parts of dead young women had been found on the school's campus, and it had been decided that a student might be behind this gruesomeness. Hence why these three people were currently breaking into lockers.

"Ok, so why are we examining the locker contents from the geeks in the science club again?" Buffy asked Wes.

The watcher took off his glasses to clean them, as he often did to help hide annoyance. It was a habit he'd picked up Giles.

"Because, we need to start somewhere, and if anyone is going to try to build an army of zombies, the Science Club and the Film Club are the two most logical choices. If we find nothing, then, we'll just have to think of something else"

Buffy was confused.

"Film club?" she asked.

"Zombie movies" Willow explained.

Buffy started by opening Chris Epps's locker.

"Future surgeon here" Buffy said as she closed the locker door and moved on to the next one on the list "but nothing to suggest he's in love with the undead".

Wes closed the locker he'd been inspecting.

"There is absolutely nothing in Mr. Jones's locker" he reported "That is unusual".

Willow didn't agree.

"Not really, he's always carrying everything around with him in that big duffel bag of his" she told Wes "I'd have been more surprised if there was anything actually in his locker".

The Watcher considered this.

"I see" he was soon saying "Then I suppose there would be no way then to remove him from our investigation".

Wes had the next locker open shortly, as did Buffy. The young Watcher blushed and quickly closed the locker, as it was mostly women's undergarments. "I don't think, er, that is, Jane Simmons, is um, unlikely to be our mastermind".

Buffy and Willow looked at Wes as he was stammering more than usual.

"What makes you say that?" the Slayer enquired

Wes swallowed.

"Her rather, um, intimate shall we say, um, apparel" he said "Not much else in there actually".

Buffy and Willow felt it was wise to change the subject.

"Well, this one is clean too" Willow informed the others "There's nothing here other than textbooks".

Wesley Wyndham-Pryce nodded and moved to the final locker on their list. After inspecting it, he spoke

"Well, as Doug Masters here appears clean, I believe that's all of them for now" the watcher stated as he closed the final locker "We'll just have to think of something else"

(Line Break)

 **Sports Field. Sunnydale High.**

Things were going well for me today, I'd returned to Sunnydale in order to see Buffy and Amy do the whole Cheerleader thing, and no evil had shown itself.

Now I was taking the rest of my girls to watch the football match, and Kendra, she and her Watcher were sticking around for a while, had joined us as I purchased copious amounts of junk food and drink.

We'd gotten good seats and I was just about to relax by watching Americans attempt to play rugby when Buffy appeared. She dressed in the newer more slutty Cheerleader Outfits that had made their first appearance last year, no doubt due to the influence of that Succubus demon from Mareth who had been hiding out in Sunnydale.

"Um, have you guys seen Cordelia?" she asked.

I never cared to see that girl, she wasn't as attractive as she though she was and some days the bitch levels coming off her were enough to kill small animals.

"Why, isn't she down there with the other cheerleaders?" Willow asked.

Buffy shook her head.

"I haven't seen her since the game started, which is bad cause she's supposed to be the apex of the Pyramid at half time" my fellow Slayer said "One minute she was there on the sidelines, the next she was gone. Nobody seems to know where she went".

Quickly I did some thinking. I remember hearing about the girl body parts, and that rang some bells. Also I was getting a weird vibe from something a short distance away.

"What's over there?" I asked Willow.

She soon answered.

"The old science building" she told me "But nobody uses it these days. It's not structurally sound".

I led the way and it did not take long to reach the condemned building.

"Can you smell that?" Buffy asked me.

There was a strong stick in the air.

"Formaldehyde" I said "A lot of it".

Also a shouting girl was nearby, with those lungs it could only be Cordelia

"Okay its melee time" Buffy decided.

Before she could kick down a door the red head in the group stopped her.

"I know a paralysis spell. It should incapacitate everyone in the room for twenty minutes or so" the witch offered.

Must have been something she'd picked up the last time she'd visited the Citadel.

"Ok Willow, let's do this as quickly as possible" I said "Cast your paralysis spell, and let us know when it's safe for us to enter."

Willow nodded and cast her spell, there was pretty light show involved. Then Buffy kicked the door down, and when he got inside we found someone, or something that wasn't disabled by the spell.

"Come on, you lazy excuse for a brother" an undead guy who was wearing a jock jacket said as he kicked someone who was unable to move "get your ass up, Chris!"

Then he noticed us.

"You think you can stop me? In life I was unstoppable, and now I'm even stronger, even faster, even harder to put on the ground! You can't stop me!" he yelled.

I pulled out a ray gun I'd gotten while plundering an alien space ship the other day and just vapourised the undead.

"Well, that was anti-climactic." Buffy commented dryly "Let's get Cordy out of her so she can stand on my back and wave at horny boys while I'm on my hands and knees".

I couldn't tell if she'd phrased it that way on purpose or not, but it gave me an interesting mental image.

"Sir why do you have a ray gun" Kendra asked me as my harem went to free the annoying Miss Chase.

I'd forgotten that she was here.

"This might take a while to explain" I said "Why don't we discuss it after the game".

I really needed to look into something that could erase memories.


	7. Chapter 7

**Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 7**

 **Graveyard. Sunnydale.**

Sometimes fighting vampires could be very therapeutic, thought Buffy. After a day at school being sniped at by Snyder, followed by the evil that was homework, she had a great deal of frustration to work out. Part of that was the lack of recent sex, Damien hadn't been very interested in that sort of thing, and Buffy rightfully blamed the Star Trek aliens for that.

The Slayer, the girl one, frowned slightly as she ducked under a wildly flailing fist and then kicked with some precision. The vampire, who relied on blunt strength and had just no fighting style at all, screamed loudly and fell over, clutching his shattered kneecap, making him far too easy to stake.

Then sensing a movement behind her she wheeled and dodged the oncoming vampire, catching him a glancing blow that sent him into the trunk of a tree.

"Damien, are you going to help at all? the Slayer wondered

While perched on a branch above her, the world only male Slayer shrugged.

"It's not like you need help with this lot" he said without looking up from the book he was reading "Besides, you look like you need to blow off some steam".

Off to one side there was a demonic scream and Faith walked out from behind a tomb, dusting herself down with the hand that wasn't clutching her new sword. It was called the Sword of Light and Shadow, and it had come from a store which sold magical artifacts on the Citadel. This along with other items were allowing Faith to fight vampires like a Slayer, but without actually being one.

"Wicked strange looking sword, but it is cool. Here ya go, B" she called and tossed the sword over.

The vampire skidded to a halt as he saw Buffy wield the sword in what she knew looked like a highly professional manner. The walking talking leech felt its rage giving way to an understandable desire not to get dusted.

"Are you all finished playing?" Buffy asked in a chipper voice. "Because if you are, then can we finish this so I can go home? These days my Mom makes me nachos after a big evening with the Slayage"

The vampire swivelled his eyes from side to side, taking in the approaching Faith who was now holding a stake.

"Maybe another time, Slayer," he said just before he ran for it.

Unfortunately he didn't get very far. Buffy reached into her jacket take out her own stake which soon thudded into the fleeing vampire's chest with an impressive accuracy.

"Wow," Buffy said, impressed despite herself "I'm so getting better at that".

Damien jumped down from the tree.

"The vamps seem to be a little lacklustre tonight," he said in a musing voice.

"Yeah, well," said Faith with a big smile on her face "With us on the case, who can blame 'em, right B?"

She opened her mouth to ask if anyone wanted to come back to her place and have some nachos, when she suddenly realised that her fellow Slayer wasn't where he'd been standing a moment ago.

"Buffy, Faith, get over here!" he called out "We have company".

Something was emerging from the pooled shadows at one end of the graveyard. No correct that several things. There were six of them. Whatever they were, they were tall, massively built and hairy, with with protrusions sticking out of their head, horns. Also there was something that made it clear to the humans that these demons were more dangerous than other breeds.

A Demon, also called a Hostile Sub-Terrestrials, were a type of supernatural life form native to various Hell dimensions that were separated from Earth and generally considered to be evil due to their lack of human souls and their destructive tendencies.

The term was widely used to describe any creature that was not a deity, robot, unmodified human, or standard terrestrial animal, but the truth was far more complex.

Though individual powers varied between different demon species, most, if not all, demon species possessed greater strength, endurance, and natural abilities than humans.

The leading demon stopped in front of them and pointed a claw directly at Damien.

"We find you, we kill you" it said "Much honour for clan".

"Anyone have any idea what these guys are?" Damien.

To his surprise Buffy did.

"Prio Motu Demon" she informed the others "an ancient species of demon, bred to maim and massacre. No special method needed to kill them, but they are pretty tough".

Even the monsters looked surprised.

"I do read those books when we research" she said "And some stuff just sticks".

No one spoke or moved for a few moments.

"Let's get ready to rumble!" Faith then suddenly shouted.

Faith threw her stake and it was driven right into the brain of one of the demons. There was a shocked pause and then the demon slumped onto its back, extremely dead. While she wasn't an active Slayer she still had a little of the fighting skills they had, and she was being boosted by magical items made a Planeswalker.

"You just disarmed yourself" Damien said.

Faith paused and then looked up at the nearest demon.

"Ah fuck" she swore.

Things got complicated then. The demons turned their gaze from their fallen comrade to the three humans and sent up a howl that made the hairs on the back of neck stand on end before attacking.

"No stick hurt me," said the led demon as he faced Damien. "Me old, me hard to kill".

The demon snorted again and lunged. What happened next was a blur, there was some noise from the demon and then he fell apart into two equal halves.

Cutter was no normal magical, when it battle the blade was surrounded by a strange energy field, which allowed the weapon to cut through much tougher matter than a demon's body.

"Anyone else?" the Slayer with external reproductive organs asked.

One of the still living demons bellowed something unintelligible at him and charged towards him, flailing with its massive fists. Damien dodged them and snuck a glance back at the others. Buffy had somehow managed to take out one of her opponents, but in the process she'd lost the sword, which seemed to be wedged in the skull of her fallen foe.

Faith so far seemed to be dodging and diving a lot while looking very frustrated. She had weapon, and while her magical items might make her the equal of Slayer in terms of power, she didn't have the same level of fighting skill as a proper Slayer.

The hairier of the two Slayers swore under his breath and turned back to his opponent, whose attacks he had dodged easily. He knew he had to end this fast. The demon's fist came down again for another blow and suddenly wasn't there any more; neither was his entire arm. The demon stared at the missing arm for a second and then suddenly his headless body was collapsing on the ground.

In a blur Damien hurtled over the bodies and cut the legs out from under Buffy's opponent, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Hey," said the Slayer with boobies "I had everything under control!".

There was no time to argue as Faith was in danger. Currently she was on the ground and the last living demon. All at least the last remaining demon here one or more may have run away.

"I eat your flesh," the monster gloated raised a massive fist.

Cutter's blade suddenly appeared the tip was coming out of the demon's mouth like some kind of metal tongue. Then it vanished and the Prio Motu fell to the ground with a thud.

"You alright?" Damien asked.

Faith was soon helped up.

"My butt might be bruised," she replied "DM. I owe you one, I'll give you a proper thank you later"

She then turned the shorter Slayer

"B, I think I'm gonna need nachos after this" Faith told her friend "Comfort food needed".

"Mom will be proud of the noble cause that her nachos have died for," Buffy said.

(Line Break)

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

I was grateful to see that Faith looked much better after we'd pigged out on junk food. Now we were back home and I was planning on studying late into the night.

"Hey DM, whatcha up to?" she asked as she came and sat on my desk.

There were a lot of maps and stuff spread out over it. She examined them.

"Planning a career in city design?" Faith wondered.

I smiled briefly.

"Just taking the chance to do the research I've been planning to do for ages" I told her "Have you ever notice how easy it is for the vamps to get into the sewer system?"

Angel had reported not finding any special access to Sunnydale from LA. I knew that the monsters could get under the city from the caves in the hills, but how they got into the those hills was still a mystery.

"Yeah, well, the fang-faces like the dark and gross places of the world" the potential Slayer said.

I showed her one of the maps.

"But it is rather easy for them to get there. This place is honeycombed with tunnels" I explained "Water, gas, electricity you name it Sunnydale has it. That's kind of handy, don't you think?".

Faith thought about it.

"Handy? Guess so" she said.

I showed her another map.

"See how none of these tunnels go under any churches, well almost none" I said "Sunnydale has dozens of Churches, and a Buddist Temple, even a Synagogue, but all the big tunnels avoid them".

The Master's old hang out was an expection.

"You're saying that this place was designed to be vamp friendly?" I was asked "that's crazy".

Actually it wasn't. The old mayor had made it so, the new mayor, who was under my thumb had gotten me all these maps.

"This town is too big, and it goes back like a hundred years" Faith.

I nodded.

"Exactly one hundred years at Graduation, so that's next year" I told Faith.

Not that it matter now, the old mayor was far away and contained.

"Take a look at this" I instructed Faith.

"Mayor of Sunnydale Richard Wilkins the first" she read out

Next to it was a picture of the same guy many years later.

"Meet someone who's been around for a hundred years" I said.

"Mayor Richard Wilkins II with Vice-President Richard Nixon" Faith read out "So his son looked a lot like him?"

This wasn't the case, and I showed her the evidence that proved so.

"Mayor Richard Wilkins III at a Republican fundraiser" she read "Oh I get it's the same guy doing the Highlander stunt, leaving everything to himself every time he 'dies', but didn't the mayor vanish I saw that on the news".

I nodded.

"He isn't my concern" I then said to Faith "I'll let the Watchers deal with him since he could a human. My concern is the tunnels he must have built, our scanners aren't letting us know what's down there, which means I'm going to have to go look".

Faith seemed concerned.

"DM isn't that dangerous?" she asked "Going into demon central all alone".

Very much so.

"I won't be camping down there" I told Faith "I'll just be making sure these maps are right and checking out what's down there. Vamps keep getting into this town, I won't to know how. And for all we know there are demonic temples down there".

Faith frowned.

"Yeah, but it still seems fucking stupid" she commented.

I laughed a little.

"Don't worry I'll go down there wearing full armour and I'll used my sci fi toys too" I assured her.

I then changed the subject.

"So how are you feeling?" I asked "And I don't mean the bruises. You'd try to act the part of Slayer and didn't go so well. I hope your not being too hard yourself".

Faith didn't answer right away.

"Yeah I guess it takes more than magical weapons to be a Slayer" she said.

Indeed it did.

"Maybe you just need some training" I suggested "Its been a while since you girls trained with Jojo, and he has a dojo in Salazar Town maybe you should go back for more lessons".

Faith wasn't a magic user, and she wasn't much for science either. As for research, books bored her.

"Yeah that could be fun" she said "Or maybe you could train me".

That might now work. I didn't fight like a human I was too strong and too fast.

"Actually I think Giles would make a better teacher, or even Wes" I told Faith "They don't just train Slayer, they train potential Slayers like Kendra so their methods work on none super powered people too".

The girl form Boston considered this.

"G-men is pretty cool" she said "But Miss C is gonna have her baby soon, so it might have to Wussly".

He wasn't that bad these days, she really shouldn't call him that.

"Anyway I came down to tell you that Tara's gonna put ointment on my butt and give me a massage" Faith told me "Figured you'd want to watch, maybe have a threesome".

I'd been off sex for a while, but that actually sounded like fun.

"Okay let me tidy up here and I'll join you" I said.

Faith started to leave the room.

"Don't be too long, or we'll start without you" she warned.

(Line Break)

 **Shadow Valley Vineyard. Sunnydale.**

"So you had a Slayer dream, sir?" Kendra asked.

I didn't like lying, if nothing else it was a pain in the ass remembering who'd I'd told what to. I'd imagined that going to the Citadel of Gothic so often would have led my harem to questioning my back story, there so had to be some sort of spell in place. I would have liked to have understood it better, but why poke the bear, I might break the spell.

"What I saw was a scythe embedded in some sort of black material in the basement of this place" I said to the potential Slayer.

Kendra's Watcher had ordered her to observe me more, to learn from me. I didn't know if she was spying on me or if the Watcher did indeed think his ward would be educated by spending time with. It was also possible that he simply wanted her out of the way. Buffy was in school so I was the only Slayer with the time to spend with Kendra, and he didn't want her having friends.

"Buffy is meant to have it" I then added.

We'd recently come under attack by an entire group of demons, I suspected that the mayor gone that the monsters weren't as limited in action as they used to be. Whatever the reason it was clear that we needed more power, and while I could just shoot the demons, I wanted to keep it hidden from outsiders just how many sci fi weapons we had. I'd sworn Kendra to silence about my alien blaster, but something that drew a lot of attention, hence my desire to find the Slayer Scythe, at least was a more traditional weapon.

"Then why did you dream of it, Sir?" Kendra wished to know.

Before answering I placed a device against the wall and pressed the big red button. Fred had assured me that this device would inform me if there was anything made of metal in the walls, or behind the walls. If the scythe was here I'd soon know about it.

"There's never been two Slayer active at the same time" I said "Maybe who ever sends the dreams got their wires crossed".

That was a good a reason as any. In reality I was working on what I remembered from the TV show.

"Hello, what's this" I muttered as I found something metal.

I did some more work with the machine and discovered that there was something that I didn't think was a pipe behind this wall.

"Okay stand back" I instructed Kendra "I'm going to bring down this wall".

I planned to use a pick axe, and while that would normally result in hours of work, even for a Slayer, depending on solid the stone was, I had an Old One spell which should help. Normally I wouldn't use magic for such mundane work, but getting the scythe into Buffy's hands seemed important. Besides I was spending more time away from the town, and patrol was becoming more dangerous.

Which might have something to do with Wilkins no longer being around. I simply didn't know.

"Shouldn't you take your top off, Sir?" Kendra wondered "The men do that when they work, because they get sweaty and show off their muscles".

I turned to face the potential Slayer.

"Have you been hanging around with Buffy a lot?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Slayer Summers has taught me about many important things" I was informed "Like shoe shopping when using your boyfriends credit card, what lipstick to wear and the looking at boys".

Of course she had.

"Well I guess I could take my shirt off" I said.

I didn't see any harm in giving her something to drool over. So I stripped to my waist and was soon picking at the wall.

That Scythe would be mine, well Buffy's.

(Line Break)

 **Summer's Residence. Sunnydale.**

A happy and lustful gaze came over Buffy's eyes as I finished explaining about the scythe.

"So new shiny weapon" she said "I need to thank you for going to all that trouble".

Then we kissed.

"mmmm, what do you want from me?" she asked once we had stopped.

Buffy was currently only wearing a nightgown and fuzzy slippers when she bent over the bed it became clear she wasn't wear underwear.

"Now that's more like it" I said.

My next action was to rub my hand up and down her soft young body

"Sit down" Buffy said.

I did and she got my dick out. She took it in her hands and began to stroke it.

"Suck it" I ordered.

"Yes master" she

Buffy ran her tongue around the head of my cock. Before long he was gently bucking her head up and down on it.

"Oh fuck…" I swore.

I pushed back on her head, lowering her further on my dick, sliding it deeper down her throat.

"mmm…mmm…mmm" she moaned.

Buffy hummed around the rod, sending shivers through my body, her mouth was servicing my cock skillfully, she'd learned well.

I pulled her off of my dick just as she was about to choke on it, she gasped, breathing hard. She'd gotten a little carried away, and I doubted it had much to do with the shiny new weapon.

Next I lifted her body up and flung her onto the soft bed

"Please" she pleaded "Fuck me like the little slut I am"

As I began to push my dick inside of her I wondered just for a moment when she'd gotten so good at the dirty talk. She sounded as if she'd been taking lessons from Faith.

"Oh god, your dick is soooo good" Buffy told me.

Before long I began pumping harder and harder inside that tight soft wet cunt of hers.

"ah ah ah" Buffy moaned.

I was pounding her small blond frame into the bed as she went crazy under me,

"Ohh yes fuck me, oh god its soo good" she said.

Assuming her mother didn't enter the room this was going to be a fun night.


	8. Chapter 8

**Slayer Gothic**

 **Part 8**

 **Graveyard. Sunnydale.**

A vampire jumped out from behind a headstone in front of us and was promptly staked by Buffy before I even got my sword out of its scabbard. Cutter was not pleased, and I had to spend a moment to reassure my sword.

"That's five - three to me now, honey" Buffy mocked "You getting slow in your old age or something? I thought you could feel 'em coming or something anyway".

It wasn't that, she was winning because of her magical items gave her the First Strike ability meaning that as soon as something attacked her she'd kill it before anyone else could any damage. Most vamps were male so of course they went for the pretty girl.

At least she wasn't using the Scythe I'd recovered for her, that weapon, which was currently being researched, would have made things far too easy.

"You know its because of your magic items" I said.

Another vampire jumped out and this time it was neatly decapitated by my blade a moment before Buffy could even try to stake it. This time the vamp had come at me so her First Strike hadn't triggered. I didn't even have a magic item with that ability. Mostly because they were damn expensive.

"Yes I can sense them coming" I said. "And that's one for me. Comeback on the cards, perhaps?".

There was certainly an increase in the amount of undead popping up. More demons too. I didn't understand it, was the Hellmouth more active? The watchers were looking into, but so far no answers.

"Doubt it. Place is pretty much dead now" Buffy was saying "Looks like you're buying next time we go to that fast food place".

"Should have known better than to get into a slaying competition with a Buffy Summers" I said "And I'd be paying anyone, I give you your allowance".

She smirked.

"Your loss, my gain," she said.

Buffy was getting cocky. We'd have to have words about that, or she was going to get herself her, or worse killed.

(Line Break)

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

The next morning Giles came rushing into my, a newspaper in hand, almost scaring me witless and nearly getting himself shortened by a foot or so in the process as I wasn't used to people just barging into my house, and I'd been cleaning an axe at the time, a very nice one made by Clan Battlehammer that called back into my hand when thrown.

"Giles, it's not polite to enter people's home uninvited" I remarked.

Giles just ignored me and dropped the newspaper onto the table.

"What's the deal, Giles?" I asked,

I couldn't be bothered to read anything. I'd not had my morning coffee.

A male student was, was found dead in the woods" he informed.

This was Tara, who I was grateful just this once didn't walk in her underwear, entered the living room.

"Which student?" she asked.

"Jeff Orkin" he said.

Meant nothing to me.

"Jeff?" Tara said "I knew him".

Giles cleaned his glasses, never a good sign.

"I'm afraid he was, he was, um, terribly mauled" he told us Now, uh, much as I hate to think it, last night was full moon so it could be the work of a werewolf".

Oz? I'd not heard anything about him and he did become a Scooby in season 2, but this was an alternate time line, perhaps he was recently bit.

"There are a million different things in this lovely town that could have mauled him" I pointed "We've been seeing more aggressive demons recently when on patrol".

"Be that as it may, we must investigate the possibility," said Giles.

(Line Break)

 **Morgue. Sunnydale.**

"Well, isn't this pleasant?" I said laconically as Willow poked and prodded the body with the instruments she'd brought with her. "Nothing quite like breaking into the morgue and playing with the corpses is there?".

Willow handed me the flashlight.

"Here. Hold this" she ordered.

While this might not be the best time I had to ask.

"Have you been hanging with anyone new?" I wondered "I haven't seen much of you recently just wandering what you've been up".

She gave me an odd look.

"No" she said "I've just been studying for my SATs. Sorry if I've been ignoring you. I didn't mean to".

Willow proceeded up investigate the corpse's fingernails while I held the light steady in place where Willow wanted it. As she did so, I figured that was probably bad to be so numb to death already at her age. It just couldn't be healthy really. There was nothing I could do about it but it couldn't be good, could it? Maybe I should take her somewhere fun and innocent like fair ground.

Willow was taking samples from under the fingernails now. It was amazing how calm she was really.

"How do you know how to do this?" I asked "You're like a doctor doing an autopsy".

Willow just ignored m,e and got on with what she was doing. She placed the body's hand back under the sheet and began to inspect the wounds on its chest. It was pretty impressive really, her professionalism I meant.

"So do you think Werewolf or what?" I asked Willow.

The red head did some thinking.

"I'm not sure" she soon said "I mean, there are a lot of incised wounds, but they could be from anything"

She had more to say.

"And it doesn't look like whatever it was actually ate anything, which doesn't go with I know of were-beasts" she added.

Willow started picking at the wounds on the body's chest with tweezers.

"I didn't know there were others types of were," I said.

Well I'd heard of were-rats, but they could only be found in the Forgotten Realms.

"Werewolves are by far the most common type of were-beast and they're rare enough that Giles wouldn't even consider the possibility if it weren't for the full moon last night" Willow said.

If I remembered correctly in this verse werewolves are active on the full moon as well the day before and the day after it. So if this was a werewolf it should be out again tonight.

"Oh. Almost done. Lemme just get a few stray hairs from the body. They could be from the attacker" Willow was saying.

There were times that having enhanced senses weren't a bonus. Freed from its fridge the body was starting to stink.

"Will that be everything then?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Yep that's it" she said.

And then Willow promptly fainted, falling back into my waiting arms thanks to my super human reflexes

(Line Break)

 **Store. Sunnydale.**

Dress shopping. When it becomes the best thing you can do on any day you know you're in trouble. I really had nothing better to do until tonight. Actually that wasn't true, there were many things I could be doing in one dimension or another, but I wanted to be out patrolling as soon as the moon was up, so I couldn't afford to go somewhere were the rate of time was an issue.

So that was why I was sat in a shop gawking as Marice, Amy and Tara tried on a series of dresses that would be worth showing up on this month's credit card bill. I was sure that they were getting some perverse pleasure out of this, showing me dress after dress that didn't cover enough skin. Even Tara was being oddly bold.

As for Buffy she was getting her homecoming dress because she was now trying to become homecoming queen, not that I had any what that meant or why it was important. I couldn't even vote for her since I attend school.

Willow had gotten her dress a while back, being super prepared and all that.

"So?" Amy

"Sweetie you could make a potato sack look good" I said as I admired the the little black number she now wore "That though . . . wow. Just wow".

My witch smirked at me.

"I'll go with this one then" she said before turning to the stall were Marice was changing. "Now it's your turn, Sue Storm"

A dozen different dresses later, Marice had selected a red number that seemed a bit on the skimpy side. At least Tara wasn't too eager to show off what I considered to my property. Not that I mentioned this to be fair they were marked as mine.

(Line Break)

 **Giles's flat. Sunnydale.**

The next meeting took place at the Watcher home. Mostly because Miss Calender was living there now and looked ready to spawn any second now.

"This creature is especially brutal. I believe the phrase coined by the coroner when describing Mr. Platt was 'pureed'. But he did confirm that Platt was killed shortly before Buffy found him," said Giles, elaborating on what had happened.

Someone else had died. I tried to care, but really all I could do to make things better was kill the monster who'd done the killing.

"Which means that he was killed during the day," said Faith.

"So what was it?" asked Fred, who for once wasn't studying or working at the factory "Some sort of demon? I thought they normally didn't come out in daytime".

This was normally the case.

"They normally don't, which makes this all the more puzzling. Our task now is to determine what sort of killer we *are* dealing with. Clearly, we're looking for a depraved, sadistic animal".

Could even be a human, although the wounds suggested otherwise, humans could be that nasty, but we lacked claws and the bite marks had been all wrong.

"We have two victims: Jeff Orkin and, uh, now Platt. Uh, maybe there's something they had in common," said Giles.

Well they were both male Sunnydale Students, but that was about it.

"Missing organs?" asked Faith.

That wasn't very helpful.

"Besides that," said an exasperated Giles.

"Debbie," said Tara, causing Giles to turn and look at him questioningly "Jeff and Debbie were friends, and I'm friends with Debbie, she's nice".

"They were screwing?" asked Faith bluntly.

That got her some less than pleasant looks.

"I don't think so" Tara replied.

"And we know that Debbie knew Platt. I mean, she was seeing him and way vocal about not having love for the guy," weighed in Buffy.

That failed to translate. Buffy speak was annoying at times.

"I just saw Debbie a minute ago sporting a nasty black eye," said Willow.

Sounded like teenage drama to me. I'd let everyone else deal with this and go find some action.

(Line Break)

 **High School. Sunnydale.**

I found the oddest thing while patrolling at the school.

"What the Hell?" I muttered to myself. "Is that moron really trying to punch out a werewolf?"

I watched for a moment more.

"I don't believe it" I whispered to myself "Does the good guy gig include saving people from their own stupidity? This is real Darwin Award material right here".

Watching more I saw the werewolf possibly Oz bite down into the idiot's arm, his scream made me wince. That definitely sounded painful. Which made me decided to go in and break things up.

"Okay guys knock it off" I ordered.

This was when Buffy and Giles turned up.

"Pete, watch out," said unfamiliar female voice.

That was when I got shot. My kinetic barrier failed me, possibly it had been damaged and I'd not notice.

"Oh! Sorry! said Buffy.

She'd shot me with a tranq gun, oh she was so going to pay for that.

"Bloody typical," I swore before the world went black around me.

(Line Break)

Slowly I awoke to one humdinger of a hangover. It was times like this I really hated myself for drinking. Then I remembered that I didn't drink much due to America having the stupid rule about being 21.

"I think he's waking up," I heard a female someone say.

That might have Buffy, things were too blurry to be sure.

"Ow," I said quietly. "Anyone got an aspirin?"

My head really hurt.

"That would be an exceedingly bad idea," said a familiar English voice. "Not with the drugs already in your system".

Death would be welcome.

"Don't care," I replied "This is like having a hangover without the fun drunken bit before".

"And like a hangover you'll just have to wait it out," said Giles reproachfully. "And I don't think I want to know how you know what a hangover feels like".

To be fair he really didn't

"What happened after I got knocked out?" I asked.

Giles cleaned his glasses, not good.

"Well after you were knocked out both Oz and the boy, Pete, carried on fighting" he told me.

That didn't sound too bad.

"So bad guy's apprehended and all is well again, right?" I asked

Somehow I doubted it.

"Not quite, I'm afraid. The girl, Debbie, will live, Pete won't and the werewolf, who turns out to be a student called Oz is dead. Pete had somehow transformed himself in a creature of great strength, he killed Oz and Buffy killed him. But I'm glad she didn't hold back, and I don't think Pete was human anymore".

Buffy was going to be a bit fragile once she figured out she'd killed someone who had a soul. Hopefully it wouldn't harm her too much, she'd not worried after killing drow and other evil races while we'd been fighting for Mithril Hall, but that had been a war. She might feel differently about it under these circumstances.

Also I really hoped Willow hadn't been hanging out with Oz, or there was going to be really rough patch ahead for my harem.

(Line Break)

 **Omega. Mass Effect Verse.**

Being back on Omega was not something I had particularly been looking forward to. The garbage heap they called a space station was not exactly the most friendly place to visit. But I needed a new kinetic barrier, my old one had stopped.

However in order to buy a brand new state of the art kinetic barrier I needed credits, and I didn't want to keep bringing objects from other realities into this one as that would just drawn attention to myself.

I'd been very careful not to get on anyone's radar while visiting this galaxy, the last thing I wanted was to tangle with the likes of Cerberus, or become involved with a Spectre, or even worse Shepard.

Still today would be a breaking of this rule. I needed money fast, and there was a whole list of bounties that hadn't been claimed. Most were for crooks, but one caught my eye, a grieving mother had put a reward for her son's killer.

I wanted to find out more.

(Line Break)

 **Omega. Mass Effect Verse.**

"Are you here about my son?" the woman asked

I nodded.

"Yes we are" I told the human woman "Can you tell us the details?"

The woman invited us in. I led the way with Fred following me. She was my group tech expert so it made sense to bring her to a place so full of advanced tech.

"My boy, Hanson was his name, died about a week ago and no one seems to care. The medic said it was a brain hemorrhage but that's not true; it was murder. Someone baby," the woman was on the verge of tears "It was that asari whore!".

That set of alarm bells.

"Tell us what you know and we'll the killer" I promised.

This woman was offering a small fortune, more than enough to keep my group in barriers. By the looks of the apartment she could afford to spend that kind of money on payback. Seemed odd that such a well off woman would be living on this station.

"Oh, thank you!" she enthusiastically said, "Its so hard...when no one believes you...I'm all alone now...," she sighed and sniffed again, wiping the tears from her eyes, "Are you...are you one of Aria's people?"

I shook my head.

"Freelance" I told the old lady "But while I look young I've dealt with some truly horrible creatures and people. Whoever killed your son is going to met the same fate as they did".

She didn't seem to care that I might not be qualified for this of work.

"Thank you so much. No one else on this hellhole station gives a damn that my boy is dead. If you can do something about it, I'll help you however I can" she promised.

Fred spoke next.

"Did your son have a lot of friends?" she asked.

The woman shook her head,

"Not a lot, no. He was always so shy. Spent most of his time with on his music, that's why we came here, he's a DJ, not a lot of people know that means anymore" we were told "He's very good, he's worked in clubs all over Earth and even Illuim. The Citadel was where he wanted to go, but he wasn't famous enough, you have to be recognised by talent scouts to work at those clubs".

More alarm bells were ringing.

"While he worked at a lot of clubs he didn't spend much time hanging out with friends." the woman was now saying "Something did change in the last few weeks though; he started talking about an asari; her name was Morinth, he said".

My alarm bells were now going off loud enough to signal Red Alert.

"I loathed her" said the woman as her tone turned into pure venom, "She kept dragging my boy out to clubs, not the ones he played at, and I found drugs in this room".

Fred spoke again

"What kind of a person is this Morinth?" she asked.

While I already knew I listened anyway.

"I never met her; only heard about her. But Hanson talked about her like she was a queen. You'd swear there was no one else mattered when he talked about Morinth".

Right now I knew I needed to talk to Aria, and to contact a certain Justicar, if that was possible.

(Line Break)

 **Omega. Mass Effect Verse.**

We found the matriarch of Omega in her usual place; sitting on a sofa, surrounded by her guards, overlooking the dance floor. Aria widened her eyes upon seeing me. We hadn't spoke in a long time, not since her daughter had nearly gotten killed flying my first attempt a spelljammer, hopefully he wasn't mad about that.

If she was she hid it well, and when I told her why I wanted to talk her, I doubted she cared much about the past.

"An Ardat-Yakshi? I knew it. Nothing leaves a body quite so...empty, as an Ardat-Yakshi does" the matriarch said "I fucking knew it".

I was surprised.

"You have an Ardat-Yakshi on the station, know full well about it, and haven't taken steps to eliminate her?" I asked.

Aria scoffed,

"Why would I? She hasn't tried to seduce me. Her last victim was a young boy; very recent, about a day ago. Pretty thing; human, of course this one likes human men" Aria told me "If she is who I think she is, you'll find in the VIP area downstairs. I'll give you access since you made me so much money in the past".

That was handy. I'd be hunting her soon and I was a human male. I could let her come to me.

"Speaking of money" the asari went on to say "You here to business?".

If I wasn't selling it wouldn't be here. These days I spent everything I made on the Citadel of Gothics, I'd have gone there for my barriers or some kind of personal shielding, but things cost a lot there.

I figured that prices would go down as more alternate versions of me got access to the Citadel, there would be more people selling similar stuff, and this would force existing traders to lower their prices.

"Not at the moment" I told the alien "But thanks for the information, assuming this Ardat-Yakshi doesn't kill me I'll send you something that add to your bank balance".

I then asked about contacting a Justicar. Aria didn't like that idea, but a few gemstones changed her mind.

"Good luck finding her," Aria remarked, while taking a sip of a drink, "Better luck catching her"

I had feeling I'd need it. I had to be careful this Ardat-Yakshi was not just another vampires, although she somewhat like a blood sucker. Still I was the Slayer I was a Predator that hunted and killed other predators. I wanted to hunt this one.

(Line Break)

 **Omega. Mass Effect Verse.**

"This is Morinth's work," The justicar declared after I'd told her what was going on around here "She is attracted to artists and creators. Someone with a spark; slightly isolated from their peers. She impresses with sophistication and sex appeal. And then she strikes the hunt interests her as much as the conquest".

It hadn't taken long for Justicar Samara to reach Omega, I figured she'd dropped whatever she was doing and had rushed here. Which suited me just fine as I wanted that bounty.

"Anyone who's successfully hunted sapient beings for hundred of years is very dangerous" I said.

Samara nodded,

"Morinth speaks to you on many levels; her body tells yours that she'll bring you unimaginable ecstasy, her scent evokes emotions long hidden. Her eyes promise you things you were always scared to ask of another. Her voice still whispers to you even after she is done speaking".

I'd read that vampires could be seductive like that, at least while they showed their human faces. Not that I'd understood why.

"She sounds more like a highly evolved killer than a genetic defect" Fred remarked,

"The condition has been present since the asari were still huddling around fires at night," The justicar explained

Again these Ardat-Yakshi sounded more like demons that people. That would just make it easier to kill her.

"Storming her den would be a mistake; she would have a hundred escape routes planned" the justicar was now saying "She will go to ground and disappear for fifty years or more; this is the closest I've ever gotten."

"So we have to lure her out," I reasoned.

"Exactly," Samara agreed, "Afterlife's VIP section seems to be her preferred hunting ground".

Much like how vampires used to hunt at the Bronze. Not that they did these days as much as Buffy spent a lot of time there, and I checked up on the place as well.

"You'll be the perfect bait," Samara told me, "She'll flee if she sees me, so I'll hide in the shadows. You must lure her out and convince her of how delicious you are; enough that she'll take you to her den. Once inside, I will move in and make the kill. You'll be irresistible to her. Your power will draw her in, even I can sense that your different that other humans".

(Line Break)

 **Omega. Mass Effect Verse.**

I was awed at the size and grandeur of the Ardat-Yakshi's apartment. There was two levels; the lower level had a sofa and a fireplace, along with an observation window, a dinner table and a pot of plants. The upper level had a life-sized krogan sculpture and a kitchen area, but nothing much else. There was also a bed, but it was single, not queen-sized. Odd considering her method of killing, perhaps no one had ever gotten to the bedroom.

Before long I allowed myself to be guided over to the couch by Morinth's hand. The asari serial killer sat next to me, and was smiling the entire time.

"I love clubs. People, movement, heat," Morinth stated, "I can still hear the bass like the drums of a great hunt out for your blood. But here...its muted, and you're safe. Is that what you want, Gothic? To be safe?".

Part of me did wonder if I was ever that. I lived on the Mouth of Hell after all.

"Safety is an illusion" I said.

"Its true; we're never truly safe," Morinth responded, while curling up next to me "I never understood the fascination with safety. Some of us choose to live differently".

While not exactly been given a choice about becoming a Slayers, or at least if I had I couldn't remember, I'd never give up the life. I'd chosen to live dangerously so I could have life that actually mattered.

"I know exactly...".

More would have been spoke of, but suddenly the door exploded in and then Samara was here, wreathed in biotic energy, as was Morinth, both of them possessing the energy to rip apart the apartment piece by piece. Neither moved, simply standing off.

Finally, Morinth broke the silence.

"Well hello mother," Morinth hissed.

Samara fired a warp at her, but the Ardat-Yakshi easily battered it aside

"Do not call me that," Samara demanded.

Morinth shrugged

"I can't help being your daughter, mother" she replied.

Morinth sent her own warp towards her, but the justicar saw it coming. She nimbly dodged it and launched a shock wave in the other asari's direction, which Morinth was unable to predict. She flew backwards, smashing into her krogan sculpture and shattering it.

Samara approached her with death as her purpose, but Morinth was suddenly consumed in bright light and she seemingly exploded, sending Samara flying backwards, only for her to land gracefully in a crouch, but Morinth was already limping forward, her biotic mind powers clasping around a piece of sofa and hurdling it at the justicar at unexpected speeds.

Samara raised a barrier than the sofa broke apart on it. But it was all a diversion; in those few seconds, Morinth moved up to Samara and slammed a biotic warp into Samara, sending her slamming into a wall where she crumbled to the ground, Morinth approaching her now instead.

"The only crimes I committed was being born with the gifts you gave me," Morinth said as stepped over her mother "I am the genetic destiny of the asari. But out people are not ready to accept this; so I must die. Well no, mother. You must die".

She didn't as I snapped the Ardat-Yakshi's neck with the ease.

"Well that was one hell of a way to spend a evening" I said as the body dropped the ground "And my bounty is earned".

I left the Justicer alone to morn her daughter. I was no longer apart of this family drama.


	9. Chapter 9

**Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 9**

 **CRD Factory. Sunnydale.**

"Can you monitor the girls for me" I requested of Fred as I suited for tonight's mission "and if they go patrolling tonight order them Pizza and stuff for them, in my name. They might like that, because I know Buffy gets really hungry after fighting vamps. Make sure they've got drinks too".

Ever since we'd spent my hard earned credits at store which sold magical items created by Planeswalker Gothic, a man I'd met only once but what deeply impressed by, patrol had become a group activity for my gang. Slaying vampires wasn't so dangerous when you had such powerful enchanted items.

Fred wasn't actually in the room, she was close by having fun with our new equipment that we'd brought with the bounty money. It was old second and old stuff, but we now had fancy VI (virtual intelligence) that would help run the CRD business, meaning less work for Fred. Miss Calender would spawn soon so she wouldn't be able to work, and Willow could only spend so much time at the factory.

"No problem Damien" Winifred replied over the comm system of my Mass Effect armour "I will order up some Slaying food and drinks for the gang".

I walked to the front office doors and checked to ensure that the coast was clear. I didn't want anyone knowing I was heading down into the sewers this evening. There shouldn't have been anyone here other than Fred, and thankfully there wasn't. The coast was clear.

Quickly I found a manhole cover, however just before dropping down Fred spoke to me yet again.

"Stay safe down there" she said "Remember to come back straight away if your armour gets damaged or if you need more weapons. and good hunting".

My only response was, "Yes, Mum"

Pulling the manhole cover back over the hole, I used my fancy ME toys to scan the tunnel that I was inside. It went straight over a kilometre in both directions, and there were dozens of side tunnels that would allow a vampire hiding from the sun to move around freely. It could have only have been created this way with demons in mind by the former mayor.

"Bring back some trophies tonight, I want some blood for DNA samples and there might be some magic user at the Citadel of you, that can use them for potions" Fred was no saying "I want to catalogue demons as well for our own research so proper pictures would be nice, the ones in the books aren't always accurate".

To be fair many of Giles's books were reprints of older texts, any more up to date information was most likely in the hands of the Watchers in London. Not that demon species changed that much, but it wasn't humans who evolved.

"Roger that" was my reply.

"And we need to know the dead radio zones" Fred went on to say "So stay in contact and place those sensors".

I began walking quietly through the tunnel, making as little noise as possible, not so hard for a Slayer, we were predators, and we wouldn't be very effective ones if we couldn't sneak up on the monsters we hunted.

The weapon in my hand was a The Lieberschaft 2180 shotgun, or "Eviscerator," it was of human design and had a unique ammunition generator. Where most ME firearms shave off chips or pellets from an ammunition block, the M-22 shaved off serrated metal edges designed to fly aerodynamically. This dramatically improves its armour-piercing capabilities, which was important to me as many demons had scales and thick hide. This design violated several intergalactic weapons treaties, but they didn't matter on Omega.

Patience is a virtue for a hunter and Slayers were ace hunters, so when sensed demons I didn't go chasing after them. I knew they were coming my way, and I let them.

A few minutes went by and then I heard my prey talking to each other. Six vampires were approaching at a walk. Their conversation revolving around their coming hunt for blood. One was clearly the leader. Just gang talk of killing innocents. Nothing of tactical or strategic value.

The six began to walk past heading west and down towards the ocean if my maps were correct. I could have just shot, but Cutter, my magical sword desired violence and so did I. Shooting them would be too quick, and there would be no sport.

Before the undead even knew I was there a vampire head hit the wall and bounced to land at the feet of the lead vampire before dusting. A heartbeat later, before the shock wore off, I spun around with my blade horizontal and two more heads fell off.

Half of them were dust on the floor before the rest of them had time to realise they were in danger. Of the remaining three only the leader a female vamp who looked like she'd been turned during the punk era and had never changed her style, attacked,

My sword found its way into the chest of the leader while I kicked the punk undead girl hard enough that had she been human it would have knocked her out, maybe even broken her skull. Since she wasn't human it just got her out of my way.

Cutter wasn't a holy weapon, far from it in fact, so driving it into leader vampire's chest didn't cause him to dust. Still he was in a great amount of pain. I ended that pain when I pulled out the sword and then twisted my body while removing the vampire's head.

The last vamp ran for it, and while it was faster than any human could hope to be, she couldn't outrun a bullet, I took out my ME pistol and opened fire. The inferno shot insured he was smoking ash and sooty dust for the drain water to wash away.

Once the rush of combat had faded I returned my weapons to their proper places and placed my shotgun back in my hands. Cutter was a dark magical weapon and had a corrupting influence on those too weak willed to resist the blade.

Thankfully for me I'd trained with the Mouse Morph Jojo, as such I could resist such corrupting influences. Cutter didn't want the fighting to end, but my will was enough to subdue the weapon. He'd get plenty of action later so he didn't complain.

Vampire dust didn't make a good trophy, and the kills had been too easy anyway so even they had left something it hadn't been a fight worth remembering. However vampire ash might have magical properties, and Fred might want to study it anyway. For all I knew it made good fertiliser, which would be a fitting end for such scum.

Before moving on I calmed my breathing with a quick exercise, then I sighed. That had been too easy even without using a sci fi weapon. I really needed a bigger challenge.

"Damien you just stepped out a dead zone on the sensors" Fred reported once I started walking again "Anything odd about that area".

I looked around.

"Nothing" I told her "No odd symbols, nothing that triggers my Slayer senses, its not even that dirty down here".

Fred was silent for a few moments.

"Collect some samples of the material the tunnel is made of were the dead zone is" she requested "I'll analyse them, its more likely the Hellmouth causing the dead zones, but it could be something to do with how the tunnels are made".

I did as she wished and then got moving again.

(Line Break)

 **Sewers. Sunnydale.**

My next random encounter was a eight foot tall reptilian demon that came into view and paused at the intersection. Dark scales covered most of its body, and there were larger boney plates protecting its chest.

This creature had claws for its hands and feet. Almost a like a raptor dinosaur crossed with a feline as it had cats eyes and furry tail. Which was a really odd combo.

The demon screamed a challenge that felt full of hate. I shot it once, twice, and thrice with my shotgun. It began to topple to its right and back. It then hit the ground with a thud.

"What are you?" I asked as I went in to finish off the monster "I've never seen your kind before".

The demon fixed it's malevolent gaze upon me.

"Food you are. No more" was all it said before expiring.

With that, I withdrew my knife, which I'd gotten from Predator Gothic on the second day of our joint hunting, and I removed its head as quickly as possible. It's bright blood stained the ground.

Again I was amazed by how quickly I'd adapted to the idea of taking trophies. Not that I wanted the whole head, that would be a pain to clean, I'd decapitate the creature to ensure it was actually head.

For trophies I just knocked a tooth out of its mouth. I was going to start keeping better track of my demon kills. Beside despite it clearly being a formidable foe to most I'd killed it far too easily, therefore I didn't deserve a bigger trophy. I'd have to kill the next one at close quarters.

Next I used a needle from my medkit to collect a blood sample so that Fred could do her science thing. After that I moved on.

(Line Break)

 **Supermarket. Sunnydale.**

I was in hell.

"Come on, Damien!" called out Buffy as I hid in my car "The whole reason why we came here is so that we could go inside and get the things we need!"

I hated this hall. Thanksgiving was evil, it ought to be slayed, and would be if I could ever figure out how to kill a date on the calender.

"Come on!" Buffy pleaded "It's not like you've never been in a supermarket!"

I got out of the car and put on my sunglasses.

"You know I hate shopping" I said "There's a reason Tara buys all the food these days" I said.

That hadn't always been the case, but I'd gotten the blond witch her own horse, which lived at the stables, since then she'd been a lot more useful around the house. Doing laundry and even buying food, although I still did a lot of cooking.

Buffy managed to pull me into the store, how ever she soon realised that she'd forgotten to get a shopping cart. So there was a delay before we actually did any shopping.

"This is important to me" Miss Summers was now saying "My Mom's away on stupid business trip, I don't want to see my Dad again time soon. And Giles and Miss Calender just had a baby so its just the gang for thanksgiving. I want a nice normal meal. You'll carve turkey, and watch football while the women cook. Or else".

No doubt she'd argue that it was empowering if she chose to do all the cooking rather than sexist to have only women in the kitchen. Feminism made no sense, or at least her version didn't.

As for me I was the bane of demon-kind. I had much better things to be doing that shopping.

"Ugghhh! I knew I should have made a grocery list! This is so hard!" she complained.

I sighed.

"This isn't hard at all, thanksgiving dinner is just like those Sunday dinners I make only larger and there's pie".

Not that the pie was a bad thing.

"No! Damien!" she chided "It's tradition to have certain things for Thanksgiving every year. I can't just do whatever it is you do when you buy food".

I was going to correct her, but halted abruptly as Buffy threw me the kind of glare that would result in me getting cremated by heat vision if she were a member of certain alien species.

"Fine" I said, giving in "What special things do you need?"

"Umm . . . I'm don't exactly remember," Buffy admitted reluctantly, while biting her lower lip.

I had to face palm.

"How can you not remember! You've had Thanksgiving one a year since you were born" I pointed out "And even I know its like a Xmas dinner only with yams, what are yams anyway?".

She didn't answer.

"Let me think! Umm . . . we've got the turkey . . . umm . . . oh! Oh! Peas!" she shouted. "Peas! We always have a bowl of green peas! And mashed potatoes!".

Buffy grew happy with her success as she began to remember. I was wondering why she'd felt the need to mention they were green. Did peas come in other colours.

"And look, we're in the perfect place to start," she said as we glanced around the produce section. "Come on. Let's go see the potatoes".

Upon finding the potatoes, which had taken at least 5 minutes as this supermarket was huge. This made no sense as Sunnydale was a town, a big town, but not a city. I rarely needed to visit a supermarket, Sunnydale had more than one, normally I visited one of the many convince stores and just grabbed what I need, only to return soon to keep the cupboards topped up. This was a whole different experience.

"Why do people need so many kinds of potatoes?" Buffy half-screamed in aggravation.

I just grabbed some.

"What do you think your doing!" my fellow Slayer complained "You can't just take any type of potato!".

"There's going to be mashed anyway" I argued "Then no one will be able to tell what they looked liked before.

Buffy gave me yet another death glare, but she gave in.

"At least get a plastic bag for them. And are they supposed to be this dirty?" she asked.

"They're potatoes. They grow underground" I told her hence they have soil on them "You wash them, peel the skin off and then mash them".

Buffy pushed the cart away rather than bow to my food wisdom. Which led to use trying to find peas. Fresh one by preference.

"Peas are located in the frozen aisle," explained a clerk "Just head down that way."

"Thanks," I replied.

Buffy was already heading away.

After getting a bag of frozen peas (which, happily, there was only one kind to choose from), Buffy went through her mental checklist of things we had to get.

"Let's see . . .we need turkey stuffing, cranberries, dinner rolls, stuff to make apple pie..." she muttered.

This went on for a while.

"Go fetch me some cranberries" she then ordered.

That would normally be easy, however this was Thanksgiving so the store was full of people raiding the selves. If sped up slightly it would be what I imagined the shopping would be like shortly before the start of a nuclear war, with everyone grabbing whatever they could.

"No" I said "I don't like the looks of those ladies" I said to Buffy "And those handbags hurt when they whack you with them".

I was surprised she didn't make fun of me.

"Fine I'll go" she decided "But let's move faster. We have to finish all of this and get home to cook it!"

While shopping my fellow Slayer managed to knock down several displays, dent the cart severely, and scare just about every person in the market with what I considered to be borderline psychotic behaviour. Something about this Holiday made Miss Summers crazy.

As such we were a battered and battle-weary pair that got in the never-ending line at the check stand. We waited there for what seemed like a century, and just as it was going to be their turn, the cashier put up a sign that declared this check out would be closing.

I could stand no more. I spent my time fighting the forces of darkness in this dimension and beyond. I was not going to be undone by some ache ridden teenager.

"Listen here you are going to scan every item and bag it for us" I told him "Or I'm going to kick your ass from one side of this store to the other".

The cashier nodded furiously. He didn't even bother to ask if we wanted paper or plastic. He used both and had everything wrapped up in record time.

"Y'know, that wasn't very nice." Buffy commented as we headed out of the evil supermarket "Even if you were bluffing".

I smiled.

"Who was bluffing" I said

Amazingly, Buffy didn't argue.

"Just behave" she requested "I invited Kendra over to your place, and she's still about wigged about everything. At this rate it will be a while before she joins the harem".

Wait. What now?

(Line Break)

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

My stomach hurt. Between Buffy's attempt at cooking, although she'd had some help, then I'd gone to Amy's house for thanksgiving with her Dad and future stepmother, they hadn't as yet set a date.

I'd saved room for the second meal, however then Giles had invited us over the new house he'd gotten for his growing family. I wouldn't have expected a couple with a new baby to provide a big dinner, but they managed it. I regretted going as it may have killed me.

Someone poke me.

"DM you okay?" Faith asked.

"I'm lying on a sofa waiting for either death or the other thing" I told her.

She seemed confused.

"What other thing?" she asked.

"The inevitable and unavoidable nap that occurs after gorging one's self on a Thanksgiving Day turkey feast" I said "Its called a turkey coma. I'm looking forward to it".

Faith smiled at me. I didn't like it.

"So we should off on the sexy Indian and Pilgrim outfits we got to wear for you?" she asked.

As tempting as that was I simply couldn't move. Although the mental images I was getting made it tempting.

"Right now I'm more in the need for a naughty nurse and a stomach pump" I told the potential Slayer.

Alas she didn't have such an outfit or a stomach pump. Drats.


	10. Chapter 10

**Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 10**

 **Outside Sunnydale.**

It had been a long night. I still hadn't recovered from Thanksgiving, and that had finished a couple of days ago. I was on my back from LA where I'd been meeting my demon layer, a good one not someone linked to Wolfram and Hart. I'd recently turned 18, again, and that had changed my legal status. It had involved a lot of paperwork, and had all been very dull.

What wasn't dull was what suddenly happening I hit the brakes just as a running figure froze in the middle of the road. I had just enough time to identify the runner as Angel before the vamp rolled over the hood of the car with a frightening *crunch* of impact.

If I'd had the time I might have wondered what might be out there nasty enough to make a master vampire of Angel's power take off like a bat out of hell, but since I didn't think I time for that I just jumped out of the car, while gripping my sword, before rushing to the still vampire's side.

"Angel, Angel! Are you all right?" I asked, while dropping to my knees by the vampire.

The somewhat friendly vampire was curled up on his side, motionless as a-well, as a corpse. Just as the I was about to try picking the vamp up so I could get him into the car, the things that had been chasing Angel through the woods broke through the trees.

They were Dogs. Big dogs. Not normal dogs. They had an otherworldly nature to them I didn't need my Slayer senses or the itching of my magical markings to tell me that.

Just beyond the pack, riders in all sorts of armour, who were mounted on horses came to a stop before. The riders were all armed with swords, axes, maces and spears, and none of them looked at all happy.

"Mortal, you have struck down our quarry in the midst of our hunt," said the a humanoid figure who must be the leader.

He was a figure in black with silver deer antlers on his helm, and a mask which hide his face completely. He wasn't human, he was the right shape, but his voice wasn't right and while I overcame the feeling quickly I was for a moment scared of him.

"I sense you are a warrior" the leader was now saying "So I give you a chance. Leave the vampire, and we will allow you to depart in peace."

In truth I didn't much care for any of the undead, but Angel was important to the future, he had, and could save a lot of people. Plus I had no idea how that whole Jasmine thing would work out if he was dusted. Sure the PTBs might bring him back, but I couldn't rely on them do anything.

"How about you leave the vampire, and and we depart in peace?" I offered.

Two of the dogs nearest Angel and snarled, and inched forward, only to hop back when Angel suddenly got up and showed his game face. Then he shouted something at the riders in what sounded like Gaelic. The Celtic language was native to Great Britain and Island, and I knew a few phrases, but it wasn't Welsh he was speaking, he was speaking Irish Gaelic that was centuries old. As such it made no sense to me.

"Uh Angel" I said "What the hell did you just say?" I asked

I was concerned because until now the riders hadn't looked as they were concerned, more annoyed. Now they seemed upset.

"Errr I told them that I was under the protection of the Slayer, and that your the Slayer" Angel told me "But they know the Slayer is suppose to a young woman. I tried to explain, but there isn't a old Irish term for alternate universe, so I then told them that your a might warrior equal to the Slayer, a demon hunter. They're not demons in case you were wondering".

Now that he'd mentioned it they didn't feel demonic, this was something else, something worse.

"Play along, please?" The vamp muttered.

Maybe it would be possible to talk my way out of this.

"Alright," I whispered back "Tell me what to say".

These supernatural warriors must have some code of honour otherwise they would have attacked already. Perhaps they wouldn't hunt on another warriors territory or something like that.

"No let me do the talking" Angel insisted "Just don't move or attack them unless I say".

The vampire then spoke to the warrior, in English this time.

"My Lord, and you hunt here without My Lord's consent" he said "And you hunt someone who is under My Lord's protection".

Well I was sort in charge right around here. I had the mayor under my thumb I certainly was the strongest warrior around, and I had other fighters and magic users under my command. Maybe they would respect that.

"Then guard him well, mortal, for this is not over yet. By Ash and by Thorn, I swear it," The leader said in a cold, deadly voice.

Then turned his horse around, and his horse took him back into the woods. The remaining hunters called off the dogs, and the riders trailed off into the forest, fading out of view. Before long even the sounds of the barking dogs could longer be heard.

Who were those guys, anyway?" I asked.

They were like nothing I'd seen before, even if they were clearly hunters of some sort.

"I'll explain when we find Buffy and others" Angel replied "Its a long story and I don't want to tell it twice".

(Line Break)

 **Giles's Residence. Sunnydale.**

Since my place was demon proof, it made sense to go to Giles's new place. It wasn't warded in anyway as I hadn't gotten around do doing it. Thankfully he invited Angel in without fuss and soon the vampire was resting on the couch.

My watcher hadn't returned to town, and anyway I doubted he would have invited a vampire into his home. This was a shame because he'd taken the Slayer Scythe with him so the Watchers in London could figure it out. Hopefully they'd return it soon or I'd have to go fetch it.

"Angel? What happened to you?" Giles asked as while baby's Momma went to make some phone calls "You look like you were hit by a car".

Wow that had been a good guess.

"I hit with my car" I told the Watcher "But only because he ran into the road. He was being chased by supernatural warriors of some kind. Mixed bunch different weapons, different kinds of armour, but they all roads horses and they had odd dogs with them".

Willow was the first to arrive, living close to Giles's new place.

"I'll get the First aid kit," Willow said, before she scurried off to find it.

Then more people got here. Driven over by Tara who'd past her test, and was driving my jeep.

"I'll heat up some blood," Tara offered, and disappeared into the  
kitchen.

At roughly the same time, Buffy raced into the room, followed by Amy. No one else came. Faith and Fred must be otherwise occupied. Fred could be at the Factory, Faith might just not care.

"Apparently Spike was attacked by" Giles started to explained "what did you say he was attacked by, besides your car?"

"YOU HIT ANGEL" Buffy yelled.

This sadly woke the baby Giles junior. The little guy most likely had a proper name. I'd just not bothered to learn it.

"Buffy shhh" Giles requested.

She was still glaring.

"Not my fault. Something was chasing him" I protested.

Buffy then turned her attention to Angel.

"What was chasing you?" she asked.

The vamp visibly shuddered.

"The Wild Hunt" he asked,

Buffy looked blank, then looked at Giles, who looked rather like someone had just kicked him in the chest.

"Oh dear" he said.

For him that was like swearing. We were in trouble.

"Translation?" Buffy asked.

Giles fetched a book.

"In the Peterborough Chronicle, there is an account of the Wild Hunt's appearance one night, beginning with the appointment of a disastrous abbot for the monastery, Henry d'Angely, in 1127" he said.

Which meant nothing to anyone, but Giles read anyway.

"Many men both saw and heard a great number of huntsmen hunting. The huntsmen were black, huge, and hideous, and rode on black horses and on black he-goats, and their hounds were jet black, with eyes like saucers, and horrible. This was seen in the very deer park of the town of Peterborough, and in all the woods that stretch from that same town to Stamford, and in the night the monks heard them sounding and winding their horns"

He then put the book down.

"There are lots of stories, so I'll summarise. The Wild Hunt is a European folk myth involving a ghostly or supernatural group of huntsmen. The hunters may be either elves or fairies or the dead, no one is sure and the leader of the hunt is often a named Hern, although other names have been given" Giles told us "Which may mean he has many names or the post of leader has changed hands".

He had more to say.

"Seeing the Wild Hunt was thought to presage some catastrophe such as war or plague, or at best the death of the one who witnessed it. People encountering the Hunt might also be abducted to the underworld or the fairy kingdom, no one is sure because people take don't return to tell the tale. In some instances, it was also believed that people's spirits could be pulled away during their sleep to join the Wild Hunt".

Giles cleaned his glasses, never a good sign.

"A few things the Watcher's Council do know is that the Wild Hunt are not demons" he told us "They destroy demons they come across, but demons avoid them, and no because they want to protect the innocent they don't want any predators competing with them. Oh and they loathe vampires, they will hunt vampires, chase them for miles".Which explained why they'd not attacked me. I hunted demons, they might see me as being equal to them, or at least worthy of some respect."How come we haven't seen them till now?" Buffy asked.

"Or read about them in all the Watcher books?" Willow asked as she started to patch up some of Angel's wounds "I've never heard of the Wild Hunt".

Giles coughed.

"Well because we know so little, no Watcher has made a proper record of them as far as I know. If it weren't for the Slayer Lucy Hanover who encountered the Wild Hunt in Virginia in the year 1865 I might think them a myth" the Watcher informed us "What happened between Miss Hanover and the Hunt we don't know".

He went for another book.

Lucy Hanover was a Slayer active in Virginia during and immediately after the American Civil War (approximately 1864-1866)" he said.

Giles did some reading.

"During her first year as slayer, she disappeared with her lover Erl King Hern the Hunter during the Wild Hunt for three weeks" he told us "But that's all its says on the subject. It goes on to mention that in Virginia, in 1866, she heard that widows of the Civil War were turning up missing. The disappearances stopped when she set up camp in a graveyard".

Giles closed the book.

"Her Watcher's diary was never recovered so that's all we know about her" he finished by saying.

There was more to discuss.

"What was all that about 'my lord's consent, and my lord's protection'?" I asked Angel.

The vampire by now had a warm up of that I hoped was pig's blood. How Tara knew there was some here was a mystery. Maybe there had some magic spell involving blood the Watcher had been prepared for.

"I don't know much about the Wild Hunt" Angel admitted "But I know they have great respect for the Slayer, your almost like royalty to them".

Buffy was surprised.

"What, I'm like a princess, or something?" she wondered.

That was going to go right to her head.

"In a sense," Angel interjected. "Though this had not always been an advantage. The Hunt might respect the Slayer, but this doesn't mean they'll simply go away, and things may get worse. Likes Giles mentioned the accounts are conflicting, but should the Wild Hunt come to Sunnydale rather than staying out in the woods, we could face attack by dark fairies".

Now Buffy was amused.

"What like evil Tinkerbell?" she asked.

No one was amused.

"Real fairies are mischiefs at best" Giles warned "At worst babies will be...".

He looked upstairs to where Jenny was no doubt giving his son a late night feed.

"Damien please ward this house in anyway you can" he requested.

That seemed like a good idea. My house should be safe what with the baby nature god or goddess tree in my back garden, but the rest of the town wasn't so secure. And since the Wild Hunt wasn't demonic I couldn't be sure of even that.

"People might even join the hunt, if they have a connection to magic and are looking for an escape, runaway basically" he was now saying.

Angel was now sitting up.

"Doyle had a vision" he told us "That's why I came here. I was looking for something in the woods, Doyle didn't see it clearly, but he did see Buffy and Damien fighting what I know now to the be the Wild Hunt".

That didn't sound good.

"I heard stories about the Wild Hunt when I was a child living in Ireland" Angel went on to say "The old women they would say that when the Hunt rode anyone who looked upon them and didn't look away would have their soul stolen. I don't think they'd be able to take mine, but if the Hunt does ride if you hear horses don't look at the window or they'll take your souls".

Assuming Doyle's visions were always true Buffy and I would face the Wild Hunt sooner or later, and if they were taking souls when riding then it would be best to attack them in their camp.

(Line Break)

As Herm rode, the other Huntsmen rode. And as they rode they stole: souls. They rode past houses with windows open, or children still awake and when they were seen then they stole their souls. Later they ran through forests and woods, chasing mythical creatures and they stole their lives for sport.

But when they finished riding, no matter what they stole or where from, they all returned to the same place.

The lodge.

(Line Break)

 **Forest. Outside Sunnydale.**

"I am the Erlking, the King of the Alders, I ride in front of the Hunt, and steal the souls of children" the creature declared "I have come for you, the Slayer who is a man, to ask you to join us".

Well this was unexpected. I'd come looking for fight, not to join up.

"You want me?" I asked.

The Erlking's stag helmet dipped forward as he nodded.

"Strong I will make you, so no more will you fear death from illness or disease, or ageing. Come warrior. Come with me" he said.

At this point I was surrounded by about thirty hunters, and while I was armed and armoured these weren't good odds. Also something was messing with these woods. Buffy and I had gotten separated.

That whole immortal thing did appeal, and on some level I found the idea of spending the rest of time as a hunter appealing as well, but I had life here in Sunnydale. If I'd wanted to live it I could gone to any number of worlds.

"I have three daughters" the Erlking casually mentioned.

Oh now I saw where this was going.

"Come with me and I spare your town" the Erlking offered "And free the Lady Summers".

Crap they had Buffy.

"Okay I'll come with you" I said.

If only to free my fellow Slayer. Then I'd figure out an escape, and maybe kill the Erlking too.

(Line Break)

 **Somewhere Else**

When I woke, I was on the ground, resting on a bed made of moss.I struggled to sit up; I wasn't in pain, just disoriented.

"Where am I?" I asked

A woman who looked like elf, who wear furs that didn't cover up, smiled and giggled a bit while helping me up.

"Why, the Hunting Lodge, of course! Where else?" she said.

For a mere Hunting Lodge it was an impressive sight. It wasn't just one structure either there were many wooden buildings. I was reminded of a time I'd seen a replica of a Viking lodge. Also this place was rather pretty lots of flowers, there was a nice stream, plenty of trees. Not a bad place to live forever. Only it didn't quite seem real.

Maybe there was something wrong with my eyes? I examined my own hands and clothes. No, it would seem that whatever magic that had affected these people had yet to touch me. They remained otherworldly looking were as I looked well wordily. However they were elves so that was to be expected.

"What is your name, child?" the lady asked.

I found myself smiling, despite my situation.

"Damien" I told her.

She looked shocked and slightly suspicious of my response, perhaps she sensed it wasn't my real name, but there was no way I was going to give fairy folk my actual name. That would give them power over me, of that I was certain.

The expression was short lived, however, and her smile brightened and she made a beckoning gesture.

"Sisters, sisters!" she called, "Come and meet Damien"

The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by two more pretty ladies. Soon I was standing, trying determine exactly what was happening to me, while also being bothered by elves. Not the kind like in the Forgotten Realms, these ladies seemed more alien yet still attractive.

"I do not mean to be disrespectful, ladies" I said "but I wish to meet the man who brought me here. Do you know him?".

They all started to giggle.

"He wants to know if we know him!" a girl cried gleefully. "Boy, do you not know of whom you speak?"

I was a bit confused.

"He is the Erlking" one of the fairy ladies said "Our father"

Now it was all coming back to me. Buffy had been captured, I had to find her and get the frell out of here.

"You don't like our father do you?" one of the ladies asked.

I did not.

"It takes a certain kind of evil to kill a baby" I said "And your hunt killed three".

Which why I wanted to kill the Erlking.

"He knows what he is," she replied, "and makes no apologies. He is proud of his darkness. And he wants you to be just like him".

This surprised me.

"Me? But why?" I asked.

This elf, the blond one, spoke again.

"The king sees something in you. You are special, and he senses greatness in you. He does not need another lost soul as a hunter. He wants a prince, a second in command. He wants you as his heir."

That is when one of the girls emerged from the group and took my hand. Not giving me any time to process what I had just heard.

"Stop frightening him, sisters," she chided, "Come boy… come and dance with me!"

I simply followed the lady. She was the most beautiful of the sisters-with long, black hair and expressive eyes of a colour I could not describe-and I felt the strangest little tug in my chest, urging me to follow her.

She took me to a clearing and began to dance, her sisters joined in.I could not bring myself to dance, though. I merely watched. Perhaps another man would find it erotic as it was, I found myself drawn by nothing more than strong curiosity. Maybe it was because I knew that their kind was dangerous, even their dances might be deadly.

I do not know how much time passed as I stared at the dancers, but at some point I felt a soft hand on my shoulder. It was the blond sister.

"What is wrong, child… er… Damien" she enquired. I wondered why she had such a problem with my name. "Why are you not dancing with the others?"

"I apologise. I just… I do not feel much like dancing" I said.

As entrancing as everything was, my concern for my fellow Slayer kept me distracted.

"Would you mind," I asked, "directing me to your father? He and I have some business to attended to".

"Such a little gentleman you are! But look…" she said, while pointing off into the distance, "He comes this way even as we speak."

As politely as I could, I approached the imposing man. He grinned as he saw me and moved forward to cup my cheek with his oddly cold palm. I took a step backward and swallowed hard. The man frightened me like no other could. But he had something of mine and I was not to be deterred.

"Slayer," he said, "how happy I am to see you again. Tell me, how do you like your new home? Is everything to your liking? I see that you have already met my daughters".

I nodded.

"Before we talk about them I need to see that Buffy is okay" I told the leader of the Wild Hunt.

He shook his head.

"First" he then said "let us rejoin the others. There is another I would like you to meet. She has the most beautiful voice you have ever imagined. Perhaps she will sing for us while the dancers rest their feet".

I didn't let the matter drop.

"But after?" I asked

"Of course" he replied.

The woman had a voice like no other. While the dancer had attracted crowds with her graceful movements, this siren drew even more with the song that she sung.

As with the dancer, I was not entirely immune to her charms yet I seemed to be able to resist them, unlike the others, who were lying on the grass, eyes closed as they listened to the music in a drunken haze.

"She is lovely, isn't she?" The Erlking whispered in my ear.

He was a little too close for comfort. .

"Quite," I answered succinctly, before changing the subject "So where is Buffy?

He shushed me.

"Shh, my child. There is plenty of time for that. For now, just relax and listen" he instructed.

This didn't appeal to me

"But I don't want-" I began to protest.

"HUSH!" he said again, not nearly as gentle.

His gold eyes flashed red. Clearly he was mad.

"I said later! You will be quiet and still and listen to the singing" he ordered "Do you understand?".

Amazingly I felt compelled to do so. If this was what it was like to be the presence of Alpha Male like myself no wonder so many did as I ordered them too. I however was nicer about it

"Y-yes sir" I said.

"There's a good boy" he said.

I think the music was meant to hypnotise me-to make me forget myself, but by the end of it I still felt uneasy here.

"Why isn't it working?" I heard an angry voice whispering.

There was a copse of trees nearby and I heard arguing coming from it. I looked around to see if anyone was watching, though I needn't have bothered, before sneaking off to listen closer.

"Don't pout, sister" someone said.

"How can I not? I danced and… and he didn't even care! Others follow my dancing into death and beyond. You know this… I have lured more men into the forest than anyone. And… that boy…he didn't care."

"That boy is no ordinary child" the other voice said "He's a Slayer, somehow".

This explanation didn't sooth.

"I don't care who he is. I hate him!" a girl shouted.

"Shh! Be quiet! Someone is coming" said another.

I ducked behind a tree as two of the Erlking's daughters emerged. I recognised the dancer as one of them and noticed that her cheeks were flushed and she looked rather indignant. Apparently I'd upset her.

With that in mind I figured it might be a good idea to get of this as soon as possible.

(Line Break)

 **Forest. Outside Sunnydale.**

While I couldn't be certain I suspected that there was only so much time left before I became part of the Wild Hunt, and stopped being human. With that in mind I knew I had to make my move this very night.

The Erlking must suspect that I was planning something as he'd brought Buffy along on this hunt, not as hunter but as captive. The cage she was trapped shouldn't have been able to hold so I assumed there some sort of magic involved.

Also it seemed odd that he would treat a Slayer that way when he was suppose to respect us. Perhaps he was sign of how deeply he desired an heir. Not that I was going to take the job.

For now however I was playing along, I was riding with the Wild Hunt, on a horse that required no effort from me to ride. I had a sword in my hand, and I was following the Erlking as he led us after prey.

When I'd encountered the Wild Hunt in the forest, before surrendering to them, I'd noticed that their presence seemed to do something odd to these woods.

It was too easy to get lose, and I was seeing creatures that I'd never seen before. Centaurs, and other folklore come to life. At one point I was sure I'd seen a unicorn, but perhaps that had just been a horse lacking a rider. That or we'd somehow ended up in the Forbidden Forest close to Hogwarts, which I wasn't going to rule out.

With the Wild Hunt so focused on doing what they did best, which was hunting, I did what I did best, which was saving people from monsters. Normally I did this less than directly, but for once I was off to save the damsel in distress.

I peeled away from the Hunt and rode back to clearing were Buffy was under guard by two warriors, one who looked as if could have fought along side Genghis Khan, and the other could have been a a crusader in the 12th Century, clearly the Wild Hunt had been around for a while and had been all over the world.

The Mongol threw his spear at me, which was foolish as I just shifted my weight in order to avoid it. He'd disarmed himself for nothing, and as I rode past I beheaded the warrior, who didn't try to flee or scream. He simply expected this fate.

As for the Crusader, he was a different story. I had to abandon horse before he could slay my steed, and hitting the ground was not pleasant. Nor was having to roll over the leaves to avoid having my head caved in my a board-sword.

Thankfully I was more speedier and more nimble than a knight in armour so I was able to get to my feet, and soon I attacked him. Our swords met in battle, but while he was fine fighter, he was no Slayer as he sword was not equal to cutter. I took his life, assuming he was even alive. The Wild Hunt seemed to be made of ancient human warriors and elves, so neither group was mortal.

Before I could free Buffy, so that we could run for the hill, well actually the town, the Hunt came charging into the clearing. However they did not simply attack. Only the Erlking himself charged.

With regret I used my sword to dismount him, this involved killing his horse, and while it was an otherworldly creature, I didn't think it meant any harem.

I couldn't finish off the Erlking as quickly as I would have liked as falling off his horse barely slowed him down. The leader of the Hunt brought his Claymore out to me Cutter and we duelled.

When I moment to think I realised that since the Erlking had stated I was his heir that might mean we were fighting for the right to led the Hunt. Which would explain why no one else was getting involved.

The Erlking was a fearsome foe, and for a short time I really thought he was going to kill me, but while I had accepted death as part of being the Slayer, the human desire to survive is a strong one. I dug deep into myself calling upon my training to allow me to channel more of the Slayer power within me.

It worked, one moment it was an epic duel, no doubt very impressive for someone watching, and then Cutter was slicing through thin air, after taking off the Erlking's dead.

No one spoke as another Hunter dismounted and picked up the helmet of the Erlking, which was oddly empty.

"Take it" the Hunter offered.

I knew then and there that if I took this helmet, if I wore it I would be the Erlking, perhaps some spirit would possess me, or some magic would change me into something not human. I didn't want that I liked who I was, and while immortality did appeal there were other ways to gain it, ways that wouldn't require giving up who and what I was.

"No you have it" I said.

The warrior, a Viking if I was any judge seemed shock, but after a moment he accepted and placed the helmet on his head. There was no sudden transformation, but when he moved away from me his movements were noticeable different and seemed larger too.

When he mounted his horse, I realised that I was right, he was the Erlking.

"We will not come here again" said the leader of the Wild Hunt "Not for as long as I am Erlking".

That was fine by me, and fine with Buffy too judging by the hug I got after freeing her from her cage.

"Let's go home" was all I said to her.

We were just about to that, walk home hand in hand when, a dozen people, led by Angel, came bursting into the clearing. They looked ready for a war.

"Relax its all over" I assured them "I'll tell you all about it on the way home".

I'd never seen a group of people be do so disappointed about the lack of a fight. I really hung around with some strange people.


	11. Chapter 11

**Slayer Gothic 11**

 **Town Hall. Sunnydale.**

Amusingly my Watcher had sent me here to try to find out if the Mayor's disappearance was in anyway supernatural. In a way it had been.

"This is just sooo lame" Willow commented as she disabled the security system "The tax dollars of Sunnydale are shamefully going to waste".

Fred nodded in agreement.

"The security system for this place is, as you would put it, lame" the tiny Texan agreed "I'd go as far as to say, very lame."

To be fair getting into this place had been laughably easy, I'd just barged in the first time, without even bothering with stealth, the vampire guards had barely slowed me down.

"Okay let's try door number one" I said.

Myself and my two smartest girls entered a meeting room of some sort. I knew it wasn't the mayors office, but I was being careful not to give any clues that might led clever girls like Fred and Willow to think I had anything to do with the Mayor's disappearance. Knowing where exactly his office was, might strike them as curious.

Also I'd made sure the Allan Finch, who was now Mayor, was out about this time. I didn't want him saying the wrong thing and letting anyone know it was me he answered to. I should trust my girls with this knowledge, but I wanted to keep the fill extent of my influence unknown to anyone other myself. Just in case.

"Damien, have you noticed something odd here?" Fred asked.

It looked like a conference room to me. They even had comfy chairs and coasters.

"No. Why?" I asked.

Fred directed my attention to the walls.

"There aren't any windows here" she pointed out "I mean, there were windows in the corridors. Why not in here?"

After some thinking I took a guess, well not really a guess.

"If the mayor was (well is as we don't know if he's dead) a hundred year old man, who played a role in founding this town, then he must have know about demons" I told Fred "Perhaps he used this room when meeting with vampires and other monsters. Demons generally avoid daylight even if it doesn't harm them, and this way no one simply passing by would see the mayor meeting with such odd characters".

Fred seemed to buy that, and soon we moved on to an office.

"That's one weird name," muttered Willow.

Clearly no human had worked in this office, at least not recently. It smelt plain wrong, and I wasn't even going to think about the name on the door as it way too demonic sounding. Besides it might summon something.

The room was very dark, but my torch allowed us to see a number of boxes, along with a desk in one corner.

"Willow check out that desk" I ordered "Fred help me look at those boxes".

The boxes in question turned out to contain not a hell of a lot, apart from empty folders, old newspapers and some ceramic mugs marked 'Welcome to Sunnydale', and a few magazines, not porn ones sadly.

Proof of any odd had clearly been removed. Perhaps by the clean up service that removed demon bodies under the cover of darkness. I wondered if they'd known about the mayor, and if they had, then why not doing something about it? I couldn't imagine the higher ups in the White House wanted dark magic users running even a small town.

"Not really" replied Willow "The drawers have all been cleaned out".

That fit with my theory.

"And I found this, tapped to the bottom of the desk," Willow informed as she held up a dagger.

Fred also had something to say.

"There is something most about these blinds" she reported "I can't open them.

Whose ever office this had been they must have had a big issue with sunlight, but I didn't think a vampire had worked in this room. There were demons species that did have bad reactions to the sun, but without more evidence I couldn't identify the species.

"OK, on to Wilkins' room" I decided.

The room in question was easy to find given the name plate on the door, there was police tap baring our way, only it wasn't effective given that the material was mostly on the ground. It didn't looked ripped it had just flopped to the ground. Clearly the police had given up already, and had no plans of even clearing up after themselves, pretty typical in this town.

"Okay freaky" said Willow as she inspected the door frame "Someone carved Sumerian symbols here that I've never seen anywhere outside one of Giles's book".

Well if it had been some form of warding it had sucked. I'd walked right into this office and shot the mayor. Not in a lethal way I'd just stunned him. Then again I had been shot with a tranq gun recently and my kinetic barrier failed just at the worst time, so perhaps the ward's purpose had been to do an equal amount of harm to whoever came into the Mayor's office and did him harm. So if I'd killed him I might have died rather than have a nap followed by a hangover.

"So can we open it?" Fred asked "Or is a Sumerian going to come out of the woodwork and cap us in the ass?"

Willow took the knife she'd found earlier and defaced the symbols. Breaking down wards that used symbols was actually that easy. All forms of magic were like that, they had both strengths and weaknesses. Wards like mine and the Mayor's were very powerful, but easy to destroy were as Wiccan protection spells were hard to bring down, but they were a big drain on a witch's magic.

"I've never seen those symbols used in conjunction" Willow was now saying "It would have been a very powerful curse".

She wasn't the only one who thought so.

"Weird that we found Sumerian curse on the door to the office of a Mayor in California" Winifred said as she got down on her knees, and not in the way I liked her too "I'll have this open in a jiffy".

After a while there was a click from the door and a grin from Fred as she put away the small bag of tools she'd brought with her. I had no idea where she gotten them from, but I highly doubted they were legal.

Carefully we all headed inside, all on the look out for mystical defences. Although if there were any then they should have triggered when I'd stunned and abducted the mayor.

Fred was inspecting the floor, whilst Willow checked the walls, for more symbols or possibly trap doors or levers that exposed hidden passageways. The kind of silliness that all super villains like to have.

Meanwhile I went for the desk. After a few moments of looking around I realised that Wilkins' desk was as bare as Mother Hubbard's cupboards. It had been stripped of anything of any interest at all. Big surprise there. Not.

On the subject of cupboards we all soon had our attention on it, but we didn't just open it.

"Interesting," muttered Willow "That's Assyrian there. A much stronger curse".

I'd never head of that group.

"Assyrians?" I asked.

"Assyria, was a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire until  
Sargon of Akkad came along and united all the Akkadian, and Sumerian, speaking peoples of Mesopotamia under the Akkadian Empire" Willow told me "It was located in what is now northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey".

That meant next nothing to me. Of course I knew about Iraq and Turkey, but Middle Eastern history had never been a interest of mine. I preferred Celtic myths, Norse Legends, stories of Ancient Greece, and mighty Rome.

"How do we open if its cursed" Fred was wondering "I mean it could have more symbols on the inside or be booby trapped.

I had an idea. I tied a piece of string, that being something that had been left behind in the other office, to the handle of the cupboard, and then opened it from outside the room by giving it a good hard yank.

If the cupboard was protected by magic, anything could be about to happen, it could explode, or a powerful demon might be summoned.

It was therefore something of an anticlimax when the doors then swung open without anything else happening at all.

"Okay let's loot the place" I said, a little too cheerfully "Anything boring we give to the Watchers, to be shipped off to London, anything cool we keep. Tara can do her cleansing mojo later".

Since my girls weren't eager to rush in I put my hand in the cupboard, then pulled out a knife. That's what it looked like anyway. It was made of what appeared to be made of stone and it was covered in carvings.

"Odd looking dagger" I stated "You couldn't throw it and it wouldn't penetrate armour".

Willow gasped.

"This is a Aztec ceremonial knife. A sacrificial knife, made from obsidian, they were used to cut out people's hearts" she told me "It has to be almost six hundred years old. It's priceless and unbelievably rare. What's it doing in a cupboard in an office in Sunnydale".

Sometimes Willow worried me. She shouldn't be able to identify what was clearly a dark artifact so easily.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Remember the Inca mummy girl?" Willow replied "That display at the museum had Aztec artifacts too".

While I knew that obsidian could be used to kill White Walkers, that wasn't much use here in Sunnydale, then again knowing my life I wouldn't be too surprised if a White Walker showed up one day. Perhaps I should invest in some obsidian. I didn't want to use this dagger as I doubted it could ever be cleansed.

"I think you should have a look at this" I heard Fred say.

Inside the cupboard there was a silver goblet of some kind that looked as if it contained some jelly beans. That was odd. And there was what looked like very authentic goblet made out of an upside-down skull. Which was actually kind of cool. I had skull trophies, but I'd never drunk out of them.

"Ok, I think I can guess that Mayor Wilkins took a very active interest in the occult" I said as I checked out the titles of some books he'd owned.

Time to go and report to Giles and Wes. This level occult stuff was above my pay grade.

(Line Break)

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

"Okay that should have erased the last hour of your memory" I told Buffy "Now we'll see if Slayers are immune to the effects of a neuralyzer",

An electro bio-mechanical neural transmitting zero synapse repositioner, commonly referred to as a Neuralyzer was a top secret device used by the MiB. It has the ability to wipe the mind of anybody who sees the flash. Once people are flashed, they seem to enter a trance as their eyes lose focus. Once victims are neuralyzed, the user must make a up story to replace the erased minds, or so I'd been warned.

"A what?" asked Buffy.

So we weren't immune, this was good to know. Not that I planned to use it on Buffy without her consent. The device would be used to remove the recent memorises of anyone who discovered that my group were actually demon fighters with access to advanced technology and exotic magic.

When using the neyralyzer it was important to wear special sunglasses called "Ray-Ban" sunglasses, or you could end up erasing your own memory. I'd already proven they worked as my first attempt to neuralyze Buffy had failed as she'd been wearing the sunglasses.

"A neuralyzer" I said to Buffy "I just used it to erase the last hour of your memory".

The settings were hours, days, months and years, so I could erase someone's entire life. For a moment I did wonder if took away all of someone's memory, would that turn them into a baby on a mental level? Or maybe it would not remove things like motor skills. Best not to find out.

"When do you do that?" she asked.

At this point I was wondering if this was what happened when you didn't supply a fake memory.

"Just then" I told her "We went to the Citadel, brought this device and returned home within the last hour, then erased your memory of the last hour".

Buffy was confused.

"Why did you do that?" asked.

I wanted to ram my face into the wall.

"Because we needed to test it" I reminded her "You said it would be okay for me to erase an hour of your memory".

She was still confused.

"When did this happen I don't..."

At this point I gave up and flashed her with the device.

"We went out for lunch" I told her "You had a salad, now your going to go home and help your Mom out by doing chores. Then you'll do your homework and after dinner you'll get an early night".

She just walked off without saying goodbye, but her trance wore off pretty quickly as I heard telling Amy about how we'd gone out for lunch before Buffy left.

That was when I realised the sheer amount of fun I could have with such a device. I could be like one of those Slience aliens from Doctor Who, making people forget they saw and planting suggestions in their minds. Then I decided that this would be a dick thing to do, and while I was on the grey side of things I wasn't a bad guy. Best not to abuse the device.

(Line Break)

 **Library. Sunnydale High.**

I found this all oh so very funny, a former Watcher by the name of Gwendolyn Post, had demanded a meeting with us all. Going on about how the the Watchers in London had sent her to review what was going on the Hellmouth. Which was a load of crap because I'd made a deal with Travers, and if he was going to break it I doubted he'd do it this way. Also I knew for a fact that Miss Post was a fibber because I'd seen Season 3.

"She is not telling the truth," Kendra stated, informing everyone before I'd decided to.

The lying woman's eyes widened and she began advancing on the potential Slayer.

"Have a little more respect for a Watcher young lady!" she demanded.

I expected her back down, but Kendra swallowed and shook her head.

"You're not employed by the Council, not anymore," she said as she turned her gaze towards a suddenly worried looking Giles, "Mr Zabuto had me read everything the Council sent him as part of my training".

Kendra then pointed a shaking finger at the angry woman

"She was expelled from the Council over a year ago for experimenting with black magics" we were told.

Giles, who'd been smart enough not to bring our visitor to CRD, exchanged looks with my Watcher, while Buffy just looked confused. No one else had been invited to the meeting.

"You stupid child-!"

Whatever else the former Watcher was going to say was lost when a heavy leather-bound book flew through the air to collide with the woman's head, causing the woman's eyes to glaze and her to fall to the ground. I'd thrown it as I'd just had enough of her by that point.

"Damien what have I told you about misusing my books?" Giles said.

The Watcher's tone was disapproving but I noticed the Englishman's lips tugging up in a smile.

"I don't think you've ever spoken to me on the subject" I replied "I'll consider myself verbally warned".

Things then went back to being serious.

"I'll have to ring to the Council to pick her up," the Watcher said as he glanced down at the crumpled body, "however she did mention something about a demon called Lagos coming to town to find an ancient weapon called the Glove of Myhnegon. That's most worrying..."

Oh right that thing. I'd totally forgotten about the Glove, or perhaps I'd dealt with it and had forgotten. I'd have to check my notes.

"She was probably lying" Buffy commented.

And she was bad at too. I was a much better teller of falsehoods.

"Possibly," Giles said with a nod, "however we can't take that risk. Maybe she was after the weapon for her own ends".

Indeed she had been. I'd say she still was, but she wouldn't be getting her hands on it now.

"Shall we go and look now?" Kendra asked eagerly.

Without Mr Zabuto around, he'd returned home to pick up some stuff to bring here for his more long term stay, his ward seemed more lively. I hoped that wasn't a sign that she'd been abused by him. She and I should discuss it some day.

"Lagos is a large warrior demon" I said to Kendra "He smart enough to use weapons too. He might even be a match for even a Slayer, so its not a good idea for you to be there. Buffy and I can handle this".

She looked a little depressed upon hearing that.

"Damien is right, Kendra" Giles supported "But if your looking for something to do you can help me prepare the Living Flame we'll use to destroy the glove, and we'll need to research the glove itself".

That cheered her up.

"As for the glove our best guess is that it's in the Von Hauptman Crypt in Restview Cemetery" Wes told us "A demon like Lagos will move under the cover of darkness so if you get their quickly you can ambush him".

Buffy and raced off into the night.

(Line Break)

 **Graveyard. Sunnydale.**

"Buffy this really isn't the time" I said as withdrew Cutter "Kill demon now, then we'll discuss the fact that your mother is dating at some later point".

My fellow Slayer didn't bother to voice her agreement, choosing instead to drop into a forward roll that took her underneath Largos' axe-swing and behind the monster. Drawing her sword, she thrust at the demon's heart only for the giant monster to swing his axe backwards to block her attack and to follow up with a back-hand fist that knocked her to the floor.

Cursing, she rolled out of the way of Largos' axe-swing that threatened to take her head off. Rolling to her feet, she leapt into a spin kick that snapped her adversary's head backwards at the same instant that I slid in with a dropkick to the knees that took the demon's legs from underneath him and sent him crashing to the ground. Before the demon had chance to regain his feet, we set about decapitating and dismembering him.

"Hey," Buffy said as she picked up Largos' axe, "that is one wicked weapon. I think it'll come in very handy".

It was a nice look axe.

"As the leader of our team I get first choice of the loot!" I cried.

Buffy ran for it leaving me to chase her.

(Line Break)

 **Maid Cafe. The Citadel.**

The Citadel of Gothics seemed be growing like some sort of living organism. Not only were more people visiting and living here, physically it was expanding as my data pad had informed that there would tunnelling deep under the main dome.

For good reasons the Council of Gothics had decided to install some vaults down here in order to house objects too valuable to destroy, but too dangerous not be secured. Also there would a shadow depositary, a sort of bank/storage area were Gothics could have their most treasured items locked away where no outsider would be able to get to them.

They were using Tok'ra crystal to make the tunnels, as such the dome wouldn't be bothered by workmen, and there was no risk of the dome sinking into the ground.

I'd spent some time sitting here at the Maid Cafe, which had waitresses in maid outfits as the name might suggest, as the cafe allowed a great view of the ground level of the main dome, which by far the largest and bustiest part of the Citadel.

As I sipped something that only an American could call coffee, that will teach me order to expressso, I watched the other versions of myself and their harems go about their business. With my enhanced vision it was easy to see that very few Gothics interacted with each, yet members of different harems clearly did.

I wondered what that said about me as a person. I'd been on a Hunt with Predator Gothic, so I knew that the different versions of myself could get along, but they didn't seem to be trying.

Did I mistrust myself on some level? Or did the Gothics not interact so much simply because it was confusing?.

I imagined it could be. I could go up to one Gothic, start chatting and find out I was talking to the wrong one. That might be why we all seemed to go great efforts to look different. There was a whole array of hairstyles, hair colours, so many different kinds of armour, outfits, and more types of weapons than I could track. As for personal effects, they were even more varied.

Perhaps they all acted this way because each of the Gothics I watched had a life elsewhere. Which made them want to keep the Citadel separate so they didn't embrace it fully. Seeing it more as place to visit and place to obtain resources from than as a home of some sort.

Then again even all the businesses that were popping here that couldn't be the case for all of us. There had to be some level of cooperation to make the Citadel work.

As I finished my drink I realised it was time to join Amy in her lesson on demon binding, the lecture part would be over soon, and the class would on to the practical.

I wasn't going to stop her from studying this branch of magic, after all I was powered by a demonic spirit and I used Old One spells, but I was going to keep an eye on her, and offer my support, like any boyfriend would.


	12. Chapter 12

**Slayer Gothic**

 **Part 12**

 **Fight Club. LA.**

My head hurt when I woke up to a noisy din of voices, footsteps and growling. I put a hand to my head, wincing when I felt a particularly tender spot. I'd suffered a blow to the head, at the very least, and it must have been a powerful blow if my Slayer healing hadn't already sorted out the wound.

Soon I opened up my eyes and I became more than a little concerned when saw I set of metal bars surrounding me. I swallowed hard, and felt how dry my mouth was, as I got to my feet, before walking to the edge of the cage.

No sooner I had I done that than I heard a buzzer go off and the cage doors slam open. Hesitantly, I stepped out while looking around, trying to figure what the hell was going on.

For a moment I wondered if I was in prison for some reason, although this seemed unlikely since it wasn't illegal to kill demons, and governments tended to avoid interfering with the Slayer. Then again this was a America, so I won't be too surprised to find myself locked up at Area 51 with the Roswell greys.

To my greater concern I found the room filled with demons. Oddly they were not at all hostile towards me, my enhanced Slayer senses were warning me of danger, but somehow the creatures in this room weren't the threat.

I absently scratched at my right wrist only to feel metal wrapped around it. There was a cuff on my wrist and there didn't seem to be a way to remove it. On the piece of metal were the Roman numerals 'XXI'. I knew this meant 21, but the importance of this escaped me.

Then I started to remember. There had been a man, and there had been demons chasing him. Blue skinned creatures that kept screaming all the time. I'd battled them, and then there'd been a net and something very painful had happened to me. I wasn't sure what. Cattle prods maybe?

"Breakfast time slaves," a voice announced.

I looked to where someone had spoken. The speaker was a human. I even vaguely recognised him as the man I'd had seen just before I'd had blacked out last night, assuming that had been last night.

Looking around, I saw a thick red line separating where the man stood from where the demons were kept. I then watched as the demons accepted a bowl of something that I didn't even want to put a name to. The smell of it made me long for Buffy's cooking, and that was saying something.

"Hunter!" a voice yelled

A burst of noise came from the demons, and this made me a tad nervous because I was alone in an unknown place with no weapons, and there was simply no way even I could fight every one of the demons here and walk away.

"Come here, Hunter" the voice commanded.

Since I wanted to find what the hell was happening here I walked up to the red line, I was just about to cross when I a human hand stopped me.

"Uh, uh, uh Hunter. Stay inside the red. Unless of course you wanna dust just like all the vamps you kill," the man taunted.

As my head began to clear up I noted that man was tall with a long ponytail running down the back of his head. He was smirking at me while I just stared back at him. This was the guy I'd saved from the blue demons, or at least that was what I thought I was doing.

"Bet you're wondering what this place is," pony tail guy was now saying "Have you figured it out?".

Actually I was starting to. Something like this, a lot like this in fact, had happened to Angel in his TV series. He'd been captured and made a slave, then he'd been forced to fight demons in death battles.

It was safe to assume that the same thing was happening to me. Which made sense, Slayers were demon killing machines, most of the infernal creatures that walked the Earth were no match for us in single combat. Plus the people would no doubt find a human able to fight demons hand to hand as something of a novelty.

"Well I'm guessing it's not the Ritz," I quipped.

Normally I left the witty banter to Buffy, but for change it worked for me, some of the demons snickered

"You'd be guessing right" replied pony tail guy "You're a slave here. Our property until we let you go. As a professional demon killer, you'll really draw in the crowds".

I sighed.

"Let me guess, you make us fight while rich ass holes cheer us on," I said, pretending as if I didn't know.

My captor smiled.

"Why not? I figure we're doing the world a favour. We're thinning out the demon population. We're the good guys," he said.

I wasn't a good guy, but I did know those kind of people, and for pony tail man to even joke about being like them made me mad.

"Anyway, my point is, you'll fight. Starting tonight, you'll be one of our top competitors" he said.

That I didn't doubt. If nothing else I'd be more able appealing to look for the female members of the audience.

"Where's the incentive?" I asked "You can't exactly force me to kill for you. All you can do is either kill me or keep me locked up. Neither of which would profit you in anyway".

Pony tail guy seemed confused.

"Well, you get to live," he explained "and after twenty-one kills, we'll take of that there wrist cuff, and you get to walk outta here".

I highly doubted that. Even I won 21 matches, which even for me would be a challenge, they had to know that once I was free that I'd want payback.

Which meant I needed another way out.

(Line Break)

 **CRD. Sunnydale.**

"Of all the times for Buffy to be away" Giles fumed.

To be fair she hadn't wanted to go, and until she was eighteen she couldn't refuse to spend time with her father, who had wanted her to visit before Xmas. In a strange way it would be better if Hank Summers didn't want to be part of her daughter's life.

Giles had a feeling that who was behind Damien's disappearance, had waited until Buffy was out of town. Kidnapping one Slayer was hard enough, taking two would be a nightmare.

Thankfully the group had come through when needed. Witches were performing locator spells, and attempting to scry for the world's only male Slayer. Those without magical ability were researching, trying to figure out who might want Damien alive. Alas that was turning out be a very long list, and as of yet not spell had been able to locate Damien. The group was becoming worried.

At least they knew he was alive, the spells might not be able to find his location, but some of their magic had worked well enough to let them know that his life hadn't been taken.

"This is hopeless" complained Amy "We need to do something".

Giles knew he had to calm things down.

"Wesley and Marcie are already on their way to LA to enlist Angel's aid" Giles reminded everyone "Mr Zabuto and Kendra have gone to consult with some shamans they know to be friendly. If needs be I'll soon travel to London and gain the Council's help".

Fred, who'd been looking through newspaper reports and online local news for anything odd that might led a clue, suddenly shot up out of her seat, sending a lot of paper to the floor.

"Duh of course the Council!" she shouted.

Then without another world she took out her Slider device and headed for the nearest hot spot. Giles was left feeling rather confused.

(Line Break)

 **Fight Club. LA.**

I walked out of the arena, with so much blood on my hands, normally I liked a good fight, but it had felt wrong to kill so that rich gits could get their rocks off. They knew nothing of being a warrior, of being a Slayer. I did not kill to entertain.

What didn't help was my lack of sleep, and I hadn't eaten anything either. I saw the looks that the demons had been giving me ever since I'd first killed one of them in a match, and I refused to close my eyes even for a minute, as that would leave me with my guard down.

My jeans and shirt were ripped, and I had a multitude of new cuts and bruises that weren't healing as fast as they would have had I been at full strength. I desperately needed sleep in order to heal, but I couldn't risk it. I knew that if I closed my eyes even for a minute I wouldn't ever wake up again.

Then I heard a commotion coming from the other demons and looked up curiously. I could only sigh as I realised that it was only a new contender. Vampire. Brown hair, brown eyes, a white top and black jeans.

For a moment I thought that Angel had either come under cover to locate me or had been captured while looking for me, but my Slayer senses told me otherwise. This was just a run-of-the-mill vampire, no soul to be found.

I could only hope that he stayed away from me. At least the other demons here didn't crave human blood. I knew that a vampire kept down here would go insane with only the slop they called food to live on. I was the only source of human blood down here, aside from the guards who were protected.

So far I'd seen no familiar faces in the audience not one member of my group, not even Lilah Morgan, so it seemed as if Wolfram and Hart weren't going to try to make a deal with me like they had with Angel in the show. I wasn't even sure if I'd refuse it or not.

Soon I might have to use my magical powers, and I'd been hoping to hide those until it was time to bust out. I'd carefully tried to remove my cuff with my Old One spells, but it hadn't come off and while it was possible I'd disarmed the magic, I wouldn't know for sure unless I crossed the red line and I was wrong doing so would kill me. I wasn't eager to find out.

Of course the red line and the bracelet wouldn't stop me from using my magic to throwing supernatural fire around, however that was risky. The guards had automatic weapon, and even grenades, clearly they were taking no chances.

I could make my own magical shield, which I'd need as they'd taken my kinetic barrier from me, but I didn't know if that could stand up to explosives or how many bullets it would withstand. Again this wasn't something I wanted to test.

Even if I managed to kill or the guards, that wouldn't get me out of here because I was sure that they weren't carrying the key to my cuff, it was magical so it would require a magical key, and I sensed nothing supernatural about the guards.

Also if I did kill all the guards I no way out of this room, even if there was no fail safe in place, then the demons wouldn't get their slave gruel or water, they'd rip each other apart, or more likely me. I'd have to kill everyone, and even I'd still be stuck here.

I'd never felt so helpless. I really didn't like it.

(Line Break)

 **The Citadel of Gothics.**

Fred was not happy, she'd been hoping to met with one of the Council members, but time and again she'd been told that none of them had room in their calenders for an appointment with her.

Which wasn't so surprising, after all they had a Citadel to run, and lives of their own to live. Plus Fred was no Gothic, she didn't doubt Damien would have been able to get an appointment. Which was really unfair.

At least the waiting room was nice, the magazines weren't out of date, in fact form Fred's perspective they hadn't even been published yet. Also there was free coffee, but none of this soothed Winifred, every hour she was forced to wait felt like a lifetime.

There were plenty of other Gothics here on the Citadel, but those that made up the council were the most powerful by far from what she'd heard. If anyone could save Damien it would one of them. Besides the others all charged for their services or had missions of their own to see to.

"Gothic the Destroyer will see you now" the Secretary finally said "You're lucky he's a good mood".

Fred wasn't sure why his mood was important, and it didn't matter her, she badly needed help.

(Line Break)

 **Fightclub. LA.**

I'd been in hell for at least four days now, although it felt like longer, and fighting in front of a cheering crowd wasn't getting any easier. So far I'd killed eight demons, fighting twice every night, and each of them had disgusted me me to the core.

Not because they were demons, but because I'd been giving real thought to letting one of them kill me. Dying at the hands of some punk ass monster filled me with loathing. Yet I didn't see another way out. My harem should have saved me by now, that they hadn't meant they weren't coming.

That last match had really worn me out. I'd fought some kind of warrior demon, all horns and teeth, he'd managed to take a bite out of me before I'd broken his neck.

I was just about to let myself finally sleep, not caring if I ever woke up when I heard gunfire. I reached out with my Slayer senses, intending to get a sense of whatever was attacking this fight club.

My senses reported that something was coming, but it was unlike anything I'd ever felt before. It wasn't human, demon, slayer, witch or anything I was familiar with. Sensing it was like feeling a tidal wave coming my way.

It wasn't long before I saw the source of the great power, and at first I thought the lack of sleep, as well as food, had finally driven me mad. It was me, in a karate outfit, it was black with a white trim, with some odd symbols on it, and this other me had to strangest style of hair, it was sticky up.

One of the guards opened fire at close range, and nothing happened until this other me held out his hand. This act led to a bunch of bullets landing on the floor, he must have plucked them out of the air, somehow.

Then the guy in the judo outfit held out his hand with the palm of that hand facing towards me, leaving the fingers pointed at the guard. To my surprise what I could only think of some sort of energy blade appear as an extension of the hand, it was silver in colour and it went through the guard with total ease despite the fact that the guard had been wearing body armour.

After the judo guy vanished, only to reappear behind the demons, who like me had come to watch what was going on. The energy blade appeared again and the warrior cut down the monsters so fast that I didn't even see it happen. I blinked and they were all dead.

"Your stuff is stored away one level up" the judo guy informed me "Everyone here has either fled or is dead. You should have no trouble getting home".

Sadly it wasn't that simple.

"It wasn't the guards keeping me here" I said as I held up my right arm.

Super powered judo guy was not well pleased.

"For Kami's sake" he swore

What the fuck was a kami?

"Wait here" he then said.

The silver energy blade appeared one again, and the warrior seemed to cut a hole in reality, something that I'd seen before, he stepped through it and left me alone, surrounded by dead demons, and parts of dead demons.

Thankfully he soon returned, another rip in reality appear, it was the same colour as the blade, but before super powered judo guy appeared, Emma Watson stepped in this reality.

At this point I was pretty sure that I'd totally lost whatever sanity I'd had left after my two years and some months of being the Slayer.

"You know I can't just drop everything and come to rescue every time a Gothic stubs his toe" the actress complained "I'm not even in your harem".

When she took an actual magic wand I realised that this wasn't the woman who played a witch, but the witch herself, which made her even more sexy in my view.

"I can't deal with magic shit" complained the super powered judo guy "Just get rid of this cuff and I'll send you straight back".

Which she did within two seconds, and suddenly I was alone again.

"What the fuck!" I yelled.

It had been that sort of day.

(Line Break)

 **Doublemeat Palace. Sunnydale.**

I knew that it contained no meat, but it was still the best burger I'd ever eaten, mostly because it was the only thing I'd eaten for days. Although if asked I would have gladly admitted that the lettuce was rather crunchy, and the tomatoes tasted fresh. Guess they did something right.

Alas the milkshakes left something to be desired, the fluid was too thick. I should have gone with a diet coke, I'd always find those refreshing, and I'd been without caffeine for a few days.

"Wow look at him go" commented Faith "He's worse than you Fred".

She, Tara and Fred had joined me for this late night feast upon my return to good old Sunnyhell.

"Don't eat my fries" I ordered.

Winifred, despite looking as if a stiff breeze could knock her over, seemed have about nine stomachs. She was so bad that she stealing food from the plate, well tray, of a guy who'd been on the path to starving to death a short time ago.

"This burger smells funny" Tara stated.

She didn't eat meat, but for some reason she didn't mind smelling it.

"That's because there's no real meat in it" I told her.

Doublemeat Palace's speciality was the "Doublemeat Medley": a pure beefy patty m and a slice of processed chicken product, plus there was the secret ingredient. However the burger, it was actually made of vegetables; a formed and textured vegetable-based meat-like product, suitable for grinding that was blended with large amounts of rendered beef fat for flavor.

Therefore, the secret ingredient in the beef was really beef. I could actually tell that just by smelling it since all my senses were enhanced thanks to my slayer powers, also my powers were further enhanced due to my magical markings. Oddly it tasted soooo good, although again that might be the famine talking.

I was about to tell Tara that when the main door opened, and four vampires walked inside. They weren't even bothering to use their human faces.

"Normally I don't like to hit the fast food places" the leader of the vampires was saying "The people are all...".

He didn't get to finish.

"For the love of the PTBs!" I said "Can't I go anywhere with you vermin bothering me".

The vampires looked shocked, and they should since their food normally screamed rather than complained.

"Its a never ending war" Faith said as she took out a stake.

I smiled and took out my own stake, knowing that with the magical items my girls wore they'd be able to hold their own.

"This is not war, this is pest control" I corrected.

The vamps were dusty within mere moment.


	13. Chapter 13

**Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 13**

 **CRD. Factory.**

"Then do we all understand the plan?" I asked of the group.

I then looked around at my companions who were all huddled around the table, which was covered in maps, and we pins sticking in those maps, it all looked very grown up.

Tonight I was looking forward to some ass kicking. After being forced to fight for human amusement, it would be good to do battle because it was what I wished.

"Run through it again" Buffy, who back from visiting her father, asked of me.

I did just that.

"Okay then. Buffy, and I are our best fighters, so we'll head through the front door, and get the attention of the demons" I said "Meanwhile while we distract the monster, Marcie, who will be already be inside thanks to her ability to become invisible, unlocks the back door, so that Giles, Faith and Wes can get in though the rear door, to get any who try and run out the back. The witches will wait out front, taking down anyone who tries to escape or interfere".

It all seemed simple enough,

"Keep in mind," Giles put in with a sigh and shake of the head, "that these Miquots have been attempting to set up a child-smuggling ring here in Sunnydale, there's some who'd buy very well for a child born on the Hellmouth. Lilliad demons for example, so we can't use guns and bombs for fear of harming any children they might have".

The Miquot Clan were a warrior demon species with a reptilian aspect to them. Stealing children didn't seem like there thing, which meant they were most likely muscle for a demon who was interested in making a profit rather than the masterminds behind the evil scheme.

Lilliad demons were black magic users who liked to make some sort of magic potion using the bones of babies. Giles had recently spawned so naturally he was concerned about Lilliad demons being anywhere near the Hellmouth. Not only had his son been born on the Hellmouth, both of the kid's parents had some magical talent. That might interest the Lilliads.

"Okay so Buffy and I slay in hand to hand combat, Watchers and Faith to the rear, everyone else at the front" I summarised "We kill all the monsters and any babies we find get dropped off at the hospital, the day is saved. Fred will monitor the situation and feed us intel should the situation change".

Things almost never went to plan, but if they did this time I'd be very happy.

"Yes" agreed Giles "After tonight things should be peaceful for a while. Only the most vile of demons dare be active around the holidays, they fear Santa too much".

I was sure I'd missed heard that.

"They fear Santa?" I asked.

I detected no humour in the head of CRD.

"Yes Santa is real" he told the group "I'm sure I've mentioned this. The accounts from Watchers of past Slayers tell us that Christmas has been saved at least five times by the Slayer of that time working with jolly old Saint Nick to save Christmas".

Everyone in the room who wasn't a watcher was still have trouble processing this.

"Santa has fought alongside Slayers?" I asked.

You'd think given that I'd recently been saved by what in hindsight had to be a version of myself who'd been in the DBZ world, that nothing would surprise me anymore. As it turned out I could be shocked.

"Yes, Damien" said Giles "I've never met the man myself, I was always early to bed on Christmas Eve, but there are plenty of accounts made by Watchers and others to prove that Santa Claus is a real person. Many times the forces of darkness have tried to destroy Christmas, and they have always failed".

That was it, I'd had enough. From now on I was taking up drinking.

(Line Break)

 **Demon Bar. Sunnydale.**

"Three Miqouts and one other demon, a type I've never seen before" the invisible teen reported over a telepathic link.

I didn't like the idea of anyone getting inside my head, which made me glad Buffy had never met any telepathic demons whose blood could be spilled on her. But it was good for team missions as only a telepath would be over to hear us. Besides my witches had wanted to try this spell, which they had recently discovered.

"Show time" I said to Buffy.

The door came off with a single kick, the force carrying the door flying across the bar to crash into the bar opposite. There was a moment of shocked silence, and then carnage broke out, every demon in the place rising and charging towards Buffy and I.

I saw my fellow Slayer as she leapt into the air, seeming to fly over the nearest table so she could drive her Slayer Scythe, which had been returned to us, into the chest of the demon who had been standing behind the table

While that bit of bloodshed went on I moved to do some slaughter of my own, the mystery demon that Marcie had mentioned, a big grey-skinned bitch with pointed ears and scary eyes attacked me.

The demon grunted before swinging a clawed hand at me which I blocked with my sword Cutter, which removed the hand since Cutter really lived up to his name.

Somehow the demon only grunted in pain, despite the wound I'd just dealt it, and the demonic bitch attacked again. I dodged a clumsy, but possibly powerful blow, and sliced open the demon's gut. It still didn't die, so I was forced to swing my sword in an arc and remove its head. Which thankfully didn kill it.

By the time I was finished the Miqouts were lying dead amongst the wreckage. Buffy, her fighting prowess enchaned by her scythe, had killed three warrior demons before I'd slain the female one.

"Right," said Giles as he pulled out a can of kerosene from a bag "Now we soak the place and set it on fire, make sure no-one else sets up here".

This might seem like an over reaction, but he was a father now, and these demons had been going after babies. As if the Wild Hunt hadn't been enough.

"Oh good lord," Wesley said as stepped forward into the room, his face paling as he stared at the mess I'd made of the female demon "Ghastly".

Well it was a headless body.

"Geez," Faith said she shook her head in dismay "Get a stronger stomach for Christ's sake, Wes!"

"No!" Wesley replied as he shot her an irritated look. "It's not that, I recognise the demon".

I didn't, but too be fair I'd killed so many demons by this point, that it was hard to keep it all straight. I wondered if the Citadel could do something about, some sort of demon info download. I wouldn't mind have one for firearms.

"Ooops" I joked "Killed a personal friend have I?".

While the Watcher leaned in for a closer look at the monster I noticed that the witches were heading into nearby rooms. No doubt to check if the demons had actually managed to capture any kids.

"Hardly," Wesley said as he shook his head "This is a member of the Sisterhood of Jhe".

Hold on that sounded familiar.

"They are apocalypse demon," Wesley continued in doom-laden tones. "An entire cult of female demons intent on ending human reign over the world and bringing back the Old Ones".

Yeah that sounded very familiar.

"Ah," said Faith "PMS, explains it."

The teen from Boston fought back a snicker even as her fellow females glared at her. Even Giles glared at her over his spectacles.

"They're a very committed cult, this is no laughing matter, Miss. Lehane" he told her.

Well they were going to open the Hellmouth so yeah, not funny. Also I wondered why one of them had been here at this bar. Alas I could ask any of the demons as they were all dead.

"Hey," she protested "just tryin' to lighten the mood".

Giles changed the subject.

"This matter clearly requires..." he started to say.

He wasn't allowed to finish.

"Some research," everyone other than the Watchers chorused in unison.

"Quite," he said as he shot us all an irritated glance. "Back to the factory then".

(Line Break)

 **CRD. Sunnydale.**

"Oh dear" said a British voice.

Everyone turned to Wesley as he entered the room.

"I just consulted with the spirit guides. It would appear the Sisterhood of Jhe will tomorrow night attempt to open up the Hellmouth" he informed us "That explains why we'd had so much demonic activity, I suspect the hellmouth has periods of increased activity. Which on the plus side means that after tomorrow it will become less active over time".

From what I knew of spirit guides they weren't often this helpful, mystic guides often weren't as they worked for the Powers, who only cared for balance. Given the use fullness of this information I felt it safe to assume that what was coming our way was super bad.

"The one under the school," Buffy commented.

"It's the only active one in America," Giles told her.

Well there had been one in Cleveland, but that city was gone and the Hellmouth with it, somehow. The Daedric Prince Molog Bal had transferred the city his infernal dominion, and according to Giles this had destroyed or removed the Hellmouth. No one knew why exactly as they weren't really physical things, but they could be closed I knew that.

"What's important is dealing with this threat" the older of the two Watchers went on to say "Damien you seem to be skilled at coming with plans of action. Care to do the honours?".

I was actually in charge, people remembered that sometimes. I'd remind them, but that would make me seem petty, plus it would no doubt led to more work.

"These Sisterhood demons are heavy hitters" I mused "And I'm guessing that they're going to want to be at the Hellmouth to prevent anyone stopping the Hellmouth opening. In that case phase one of our strategy has to be making sure that the Jhe demons don't get there. As only Buffy and I are gonna be able to go toe to toe with the Hellmouth Monster, should it actually open, we'll be in the library with Giles. The rest of us..."

This time I wasn't allowed to finish.

"I'm going to need every magic user" Giles said as he looked towards Willow, Amy, and Tara in turn, "to aid myself in re-closing the Hellmouth should it open".

Well that changed my plans.

"Okay," I stated, before taking a second to reassess what I'd been about to say. "Well if we bar and chain the back door to the library, there's only one corridor leading to the library from the front entrance correct?"

"With two direct corridors leading to it, one from the foyer, and one from the science department," Giles supplied.

Since I'd only attended the high school for a matter of weeks I wasn't as familiar with its layout as others.

"Right," I said as I nodded. "In that case, I'm going to split the rest of us into three groups. Marcie and Faith in one group guarding the foyer entrance. Wes and Fred in another group guarding the science department entrance. Buffy and I will be at the front entrance of the school which is the most direct route and will see the most action".

Seemed simple enough.

"Not a good idea," Buffy told me as shook her head. "Even with magic items no one other than us can go hand to hand with those the evil sorority sisters".

This made me smile.

"Oh they'll be no hand to hand" I assured her.

(Line Break)

 **CRD. Sunnydale.**

"Oh wow," Amy muttered "I knew he was a nerd, but this is just ridiculous!"

With my Slayer hearing I didn't miss that, but chose not to respond, instead striding over to the secret door, before placing my left hand on the scanner while typing the key code in with my right.

"ACCESS GRANTED" an electronic voice rang out as the door opened.

"Holy shit," Faith gasped as the room filled with light, revealing an extensive armoury "Did Fred do this?".

In the centre stood stands upon which riot-shields and helmets hung together with Kevlar jackets. On the far wall hung a vast selection of axes, swords, spears and maces. Double-bladed axes, throwing axes, halberds, and pole-arms. The wall to the right was filled with swords, Roman Gladius' shone next to Viking Spathas and Scottish Claymores. Turkish Yatagans were likewise arrayed next to rapiers and short swords. Swords from non-European nations were also displayed, the Egyptian Khopeshs, Arabian Scimitars, the Japanese Katana and Wakizashi, Indian Khandas and Tulwars. The wall by the door had more exotic weaponry such as South American Bolos, Australian Boomerangs, Japanese Shuriken, alongside more traditional bows, spears, and maces. Many of the weapons were enchanted in minor ways. Buffy and I kept the more powerful magical weapons at home.

As impressive as this display was, this was just one room, the space meant to be seen by any visiting watcher or any other ally I didn't quite trust.

In the next room, the door to which was hidden by a glamour my witches had created for me, were the guns. Oh so many guns, a few AK-47s, and P-90s, a Heckler & Koch HK433, a Bullpup Multirole Combat Rifle, an AR-57, a L22 Carbine, and far more that I didn't even know the names of. As for shotguns stored here I had an Armsel Striker, a Benelli M3, a Franchi SPAS-12, also there were some...

"Anyone else think he's a perfect fit for the postal service?" joked Marcie, breaking my trail of thought.

Faith smirked at me

"Daddy got guns," she said.

Indeed I did.

"The Ammunition store is down in the basement" I told the group "And not just your ordinary bullets either. Incendiary, explosive, and armour-piercing too. I've also got a selection of grenades - fragmentation, smoke, incendiary, and stun. I've also got tazers, holy water in pepper spray cans and brass knuckles made from melted down crosses".

It was amazing what you could get from Hunter stores.

"I was thinking that all those outside of the room could be armed with the shotguns while you did your thing in the library" I said to Giles.

Willow rather cutely raised her hand before asking her question.

"Where are the science fiction weapons?" she wondered.

"We have a few here, some more at the mansion" I told her "Its best not to put all your eggs in one basket".

I then turned to the group.

"We'll met back here after school and get ready to save the world" I said "We'll need time for some basic weapons training. Should take more than a few hours".

Assuming we won, it would be so cool.

(Line Break)

 **Highschool. Sunnydale.**

"Is that it?" Buffy asked shortly after the last member of the Sisterhood of Jhe was vapourised by my Alien Blaster "Isn't there suppose to be more?".

As soon as she had spoken those words the Hellmouth opened and a creature that looked as if it had escaped from H.P Lovcraft's nightmares broke into our reality.

No doubt it was evil, and had designs on destroying the world, but that hardly mattered as while my Alien Blaster didn't destroy the monster it did cause it retreat back into whatever hell had spawned it. Guess you couldn't vapourise all the demons.

While I'd been shooting Giles, and my witches, managed to cast the spell needed to close the hellmouth. This all happened very quickly, and with not much in the way of fuss.

"Hold on" I said, before contacting Fred who was keeping an eye on the scanners I'd hidden all across town "Any other activity?".

Within a moment she was informing me of the situation.

"No vampires above ground, and just a few demons, some inside homes, a dozen or so in demon bars we know about" she report "Looks like the monsters were keeping their heads down".

Not a surprise as most demons didn't want the world to end and for the Old Ones to return, because then they'd go down on the food chain, and I was sure that many of their tribes had stories of past ages were their races were forced into slave armies as the Old Ones waged war upon one another.

I then turned to Buffy, and to the rest of my girls who were all now gathered in the library.

"Yeah that's it" I told her "Other than the clean up".

Which wasn't much of concern. Vaporising monsters left little to sweep up off the floor, and while there was some rubble from when the Hellmouth had opened, it wouldn't take too long to pick up.

"Wesley and I can handle this" Giles informed the group "Best that you children aren't here should the police arrive".

Given how heavily armed and armoured we were this was wise. Guns and schools really didn't mix well.

"Okay back to the factory to return our stuff, and then we we'll go out and get pizza" I said to the girls.

The world was saved, time for some junk food.

(Line Break)

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

The living room of my large house was a buzz of activity this night. Faith and I attempted to murder each other while playing one of the older Mortal Kombat games, while other members of my harem talked over the music that was playing.

All in all things were good. I felt as if I was recovering from recent ordeal. I badly needed time like this. And a place that totally lacked vampires and demons.

Between rounds of the game, which I wasn't winning, I considered what to do over the holidays. I didn't much care for Xmas, or any holiday really, as I tended to get pulled in too many directions by members of my harem, who all wanted me to spend time with them and their families. Understandable, but annoying.

I considered going on another hunting trip with Clan Gothic, and that was only one of my options. I could spend Xmas with my children who all lived in Mareth, no one could rightly complain about me doing that. As it was time to be with family. Plus I could avoid that horror I'd had to endure during Thanksgiving, when I'd been dragged to too many big dinners.

On the other hand I could just stay home the entire time, watch bad television, eat a reasonable amount of food, drink whatever booze I could get my hands on and enjoy any gifts that came my way. I'd have to decide soon.

(Line Break)

 **Wolfram & Hart. LA.**

A slight rapping on the heavy wooden door caught the attention of Holland Manners who looked up from his desk just as the double doors opened.

He was quick to note the presence of Lindsey McDonald; one of the rising stars in the firm, the young man confidently entered his office holding a plain manila envelope.

Switching his phone from one cheek to the other Holland held up a finger to still Lindsey from speaking, then he returned his attention back to the phone.

"Yes, yes I know," Holland said somewhat irritably. "Make sure he understands that he signed the deal in good faith with the firm more than a hundred years ago. Yes, I…yes I know the contract stated quite clearly; eternal life in exchange for his first born, which is a damn good deal if you ask me, too good in fact. I would have made him sacrifice all of his children...well it's the price he has to pay; he can't go back on the deal now".

There was a pause as the voice on the other end of the phone spoke.

"Inform him we have a contract and that he can't back out now" Holland told the caller "and tell him that if he tries he'll lose his second born to the sacrifice as well...It's too late for that, he should have thought about that earlier...then inform him the Senior Partners take a very dim view of trying to break a contract".

The silence from Holland dragged on as whoever was on the other end of the line worked to placate the boss. While this happened Holland's look of annoyance slowly shifted to one of satisfaction, a tight smile finally edging its way on to his face.

"Yes Lilah, an excellent suggestion I must say" the older lawyer was now saying "I'll leave it in your capable hands then. Report back to me when you have something"

Lindsey managed to keep his grin in place, but internally he couldn't help but sigh as he listen to Lilah, as always, squirm her way out of taking the blame for screwing up yet another situation. He didn't know how she did it, but somehow she had managed to dodge every failure that should have long ago terminated her employment with Wolfram and Heart.

Still, even her luck had to run out some day. And in the meantime, he could do worse than show how useful a real employee could be to Holland. Stepping up to the desk as his boss hung up the phone and rubbed a tired hand over his face, leaning back in his chair with an almost contemplative air about him.

"What is the world coming too?" Holland finally asked, his gaze still directed at the ceiling, "when a client of our firm decides to have an unexpected change of his dark heart. How far have their standards fallen if they let a little thing like love get in the way of immortality? It's ridiculous!".

Holland turned his gaze down from the ceiling at that, offering his favourite subordinate a slightly tired smile and gesturing for him to take a seat, which Lindsey did with once he had placed the manila folder down on Holland's desk.

"Now, what can I do for you Lindsey?" the older man asked.

"My report, sir, on the latest developments in Sunnydale," the Texan said while tapping the folder.

It was fun reading.

"What can you tell me?" Holland asked, pointedly not making the slightest move to open the proffered folder, clearly wanting to make sure that this was his work and not some underlings passed off as his "What is happening on the Hellmouth?".

Holland was very much a 'hands on' man; it was one of the very few things Lindsey admired about him.

"That child smuggling ring we heard about got shut down real fast" Lindsey told his superior "And the Sisterhood of Jhe seems to have failed to open the Hellmouth".

Which would please the Senior Partners as they wanted the world to end on their timetable.

"The Wild Hunt left the area outside of Sunnydale not after they arrived" Lindsey went on to say "One of Seers reported that there's a new Earlking".

Holland was pleased.

"We've always kept our distance from the Fay" he said "But its good to know the world will keep spinning, at least for now".

Now for the not so good news.

"Still no sign of Mayor Wilkins" Lindsey reported "But since he's not dead, as far as we know our agreement is still in effect".

Which would keep the firm out of Sunnydale, at least until the town had existed for exactly one hundred years, which would be near the start of next summer.

"Also something happened at the fight club, the one that captured the guy Slayer" Lindsey told his boss "Apparently he escaped, I had the psychics go over the scene, they're saying that something more powerful than anything they've ever sensed came in and killed all the demons and every member of staff, the human staff. The psychic who reported this then went home and killed himself".

Whenever the firm tried to use mind readers and their like to gather information on the male Slayer it always caused a mess, and the expense of having that cleared up annoyed Holland.

"We have people going over the bodies" Lindsey said next "that's going to take a while as they had to find all the parts. Cause of death was some sort of sword, but there aren't any metal fragments in the wounds. I'll have more on that later, sir".

Holland nodded and took the folder.

"Good work" he praised "We'll keep an eye on Sunnydale for now, once the deal with Wilkins has expired we'll look into making our presence known on the Hellmouth".

Holland no intention of going there himself. The last Wolfram and Hart office to be built on a Hellmouth had been sucked into one of the Realms of Oblivion. Maybe he'd send Lilah, she was more expendable.


	14. Chapter 14

Author Note

I should be working on Augment Gothic, but I've been depressed recently and writing this story is just way more fun for me.

 **Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 14**

 **Graveyard. Sunnydale.**

Buffy hadn't had a patrol this peaceful since... well never. There was not a single vampire or demon to be found. She was just thinking about heading home for the late night snack her mother would have prepared for when the patrol ended, when something made her Slaydar shift to Red Alert.

"Slayer!" something called out into quiet night.

Buffy rolled her eyes. This was just typical, right when she'd thought that she could go home early from her job a load of new work had been dumped on her desk.

There were eight of them coming from all around so as to box her in, two on each side, surrounding her, and they all all armed with what seemed to be non-lethal weaponry, and they were all wearing what looked like military uniforms. The style was somewhat familiar.

Buffy blinked in disbelief. Were these Nazis demons?

Soon a demon stepped forward past his armed comrades, he had an aura of command about him. He stopped several feet from Buffy and stood so ramrod straight as to be stiff as a board. He placed his hands behind his back and regarded her for a moment with clinical interest.

"You are the Slayer, Buffy Summers; Guardian of the human cattle and vanquisher of the impure vermin that tarnishes the name of demon" he said.

Buffy's eyes narrowed. She wasn't sure if she was being insulted or not.

"And?" she asked.

The demon turned away with an air of casual dismissal that nearly made Buffy bristle with indignation, it was as if the demon didn't view her as a threat or even someone worthy of his time. He would have to be the first to die.

"We have faced your kind before" the leader stated "Slayers are no match for those of pure demon blood. The same cannot be said for the tainted half-breeds that prowl these streets. But as much as I desire to cleanse this town of the mongrel filth, sadly we are not here for them".

She was even more confused now. What did these Nazis demons want?

"However you may still prove useful" then leader then said.

Buffy smiled, it was not a nice smile.

"I somehow doubt it" the Slayer told them.

The demon leader raised a single eyebrow on its face but otherwise showed no emotion. Buffy didn't sense any of the prefight jitters and eagerness most demons relished before they came to blows. These demons more self restraint that most of their kind.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Buffy demanded to know.

There was the faintest flicker of a smile before it vanished from the demons face

"We are the Scourge" he answered "And we are here for The Hunter".

She assumed by that he meant Damien. The Slayer had been a young woman for centuries, maybe even thousands of years, no one knew for sure. So it wasn't odd that demons saw him as a hunter rather than as a Vampires Slayer. Hunters were normal humans, for the most part, but Buffy knew that when the monsters used the words 'The Hunter' rather than 'a hunter' they were talking about her boyfriend.

"And what makes you think I would know anything about him?" Buffy asked, as much to stall for time as to fish for information.

The demon leader again almost smile.

"Our intelligence network is quite extensive Ms Summers" the demon leader replied "We know the Slayer and the Hunter are mates, well he has a few as I am aware, if needs be we'll take them all".

Buffy's anger grew upon hearing those words. These demons were targeting her friends. She didn't care for the reasons why they were doing it, only that they were. She would not allow them to be harmed!

She moved before she had even made the conscious decision to act. A right hook connected with demon leader's face just as his eyes widened in surprise. Buffy quickly followed that up with a left hook. Then she kicked his legs out from under him knocking him on his back. She drew her stake in one swift, intending to plant it in his heart, assuming such a foul creature had one. However the demon leader's hand grabbed her wrist preventing the action, just in time as well, the tip of the stake mere millimetres away from impaling his heart.

"Impressive" the leader commented "but not that impressive."

Stars suddenly exploded into Buffy's vision as she reeled back a step from the blow she hadn't even seen coming. She needed a second to clear her vision and was dismayed to see the demon back on its feet in the same pose as before.

"As I have said once before, we have faced your kind in the past" the leader reminded "We know all the strengths and weaknesses of a Slayer. And while your victories over the tainted mongrels such as the Master mark you as a Slayer worthy of note, I assure you that you have never faced the likes of us!"

Buffy's next words were not so elegant as the demon's.

"So far colour me unimpressed" she said "I've never even heard of you guys, you must be really small time".

The demons collectively responded with some deep and guttural sounds that Buffy guessed was their native language before fanning out to completely surround in a rough circle. The Slayer went for her sword, which was tucked away inside her coat.

A demon in front of her came at her with an overhand chop of his club while the demon to the rear attempted to grab her from behind while her attention was elsewhere.

Rather than do what they'd been expecting, instead Buffy sidestepped to the right. She grabbed the extended pike of a demon coming from the side with her left hand and wrenched it upward to block the demon who'd been able to hit her over the head. This led to the demon who had been behind grabbing only thin air, while also getting a sword to the gut.

Next Buffy kicked the demon who was still holding the pike, which gave her control of the weapon. Which she drove into a demon who'd charged her from the right. After that she used her blade to kill the demon who was holding the club. All of that happened so quickly that only another Slayer could have kept track of what had just taken place.

Two more demons sprang at her instantly from both sides, and Buffy rolled forward before quickly getting to her feet so that she could beheaded another member of the Scourge in one swift motion.

Alas there were more demons, and two of them attempted to throw a net of all things over her. The Slayer's enchanted blade cut threw the net before it could trap her.

Buffy barely had time to register this odd attack before they were on her again and with greater intensity, and she was still outnumbered.

She brought her sword down in one fluid stroke removing the left arm of a demon cleanly. The demon fell to the ground in a howl of pain that momentarily distracted its companions.

Allowing her Slayerness, as if that was a word, to guide her, Buffy somersaulted up and over one of the distracted demons and removed its head from its body. She tried to follow up immediately with another kill but the remaining demons quickly moved out of reach, leaving their wounded screaming companion behind.

Buffy casual twirled her sword before she slammed the blade down through the throat of the wounded demon, ending its life.

The remaining demons hesitated and held back clearly not having anticipated the thought of actually failing to bring down the Slayer. Buffy didn't even give them another second to recover their wits. She pounced on them in a flash; her sword cutting through the air.

It was over in a matter of seconds as the demons were cut down in short order leaving Buffy alone with the leader of the group who still stood in his ramrod straight poise, not having moved an inch since he'd gotten back up to his feet.

"Guess it's just you and me, now. Got any last words?" Buffy asked.

The demon chuckled.

"Yes, three actually" he said "Initiate phase two."

That was when several small objects struck the ground around her, Buffy thought she was going to get blown up, only rather than explode a sudden wave of dizziness and fatigue almost overwhelmed her and she stumbled.

The world began to slow around her as her vision grew blurry. The sword in her hand grew heavier and heavier and yet Buffy kept standing, due to nothing but sheer will.

"Really Slayer, did you really think that was our entire team? " the leader asked in a mocking tone "We are an army".

Buffy looked around to note over twenty demons, all armed, emerging from the shadows. Behind her on the brick wall more than twenty feet up were two more demons, both with tranquiliser guns. If they'd fired her kinetic barrier must have taken care of the threat. Alas it didn't help her fend off colourless, odourless glass.

It took Buffy a moment longer than usual to realise just how screwed she was. Her thoughts were sluggish and slow and despite her efforts it was getting harder to fight the effects of whatever poison that was flowing through her blood. But even if she had not been poisoned, twenty against one were not odds she would ever think of entertaining.

Seeing that there would be no escape Buffy realised that this was it. They were going to take it all away, these demons. They were going to kill her and then they were going to go after her friends. That was her last thought for some time to come.

"Take her back to the ship so I can begin the interrogation" the leader ordered once the Slayer had finally fallen to the ground "Gather the dead and their weapons, we will leave no clues behind".

(Line Break)

 **Graveyard. Sunnydale.**

Sometime later a figure cautiously approached the graveyard with sword in hand and held ready. He surveyed his surroundings intently; probing every shadow, and potential hiding place with intense scrutiny.

Damien then sighed in frustration. He had been too late. He had known Buffy was in danger, the scanners had reported the movements of many demons who had this very night entered the town, but even with the warning he'd been unable to stop them.

Buffy wasn't here, but he could sense her which told him that she was alive, and also the scanners had told him how the demons had entered town, and what they were using as a base. He knew where Buffy Summers and the demons that held her captive would be, and he was already heading that way.

(Line Break)

 **Docks. Sunnydale.**

"Sir, the Slayer is secured in your private room" a lower ranking member of the Scourge reported to the leader "We used the special restraints as you ordered. Also the guard team watching her reports she is already beginning to awaken, sir"

The senior demon's lips twitched ever so slightly, but he wasn't too concerned soon they would be out on the ocean. The ship, his ship, was not a fast vessel, but unless the Slayer's friends had one of those flying machines the humans seemed to build a lot of there was no way they'd be able to save her.

"Remarkable. She should not have been awake for many hours yet" he said "She is clearly stronger than any Slayer we have faced to date. But it makes no difference. She is merely bait".

The leader then spent a moment thinking. The exchange wouldn't taken place until he was ready, and at that point he would bring his ship back to this harbour, but not before.

"As planned we will send a message to The Hunter" the officer was now saying "Humans are foolish creatures, he will agree to exchange himself for the girl".

They would have tried to take The Hunter from his home, but for some reason no demon to get close to the place.

"Go and find a human willing to deliver our message" the leader ordered.

The lower ranking demon saluted.

"At once sir!"

The commander of this battalion of the Scourge, then spent some time gazing out into the pitch black waters of the ocean and as he did he smiled in self-satisfaction. Soon an even bigger smile came to his grotesque face as he thought about how capturing the Hunter would secure his rise to further power and glory. Why, this might be enough to earn him his own legion.

(Line Break)

 **Docks. Sunnydale.**

It was a cargo vessel, large and grimy with holds beneath the deck. I could feel the engines thrumming as the big boat got ready to move. This was bad as I really didn't want to be stuck out to sea with a bunch of demons.

Knowing I needed to stop this ship from leaving port I made my way quickly and quietly into what passed for a bridge. I could sense several beings within, none of them human, they had both my Slayer sense and my markings tingling.

When I peered inside I noted they were indeed demons, but they were odd. They wore uniforms and seemed comfortable with technology, this was not normal for demonic beings, not unless they had assimilated themselves into human culture, and those breeds that did tended to be peace.

The level of organisation was also somewhat unusual, they acted like a military. To be precise they mimicked the Nazis, from the uniforms, to even a few guns, one of them was even carrying a Maschinengewehr 42. The MG 42 was a purpose machine gun designed in Nazi Germany and used extensively by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the second half of World War II.

Thankfully my new state of the art kinetic barrier could handle something like that as long as I didn't stand still and let them shoot at me. Actually I might be able to use the gun to my advantage.

"Good evening," I said as I strode right onto the bridge "Earlier tonight you kidnapped a friend of mine, she's female, blond, makes very little sense when she talks".

These Nazis demons were The Scourge an army of so called pure-breed demons bent on the extermination of every non-pure demon race on earth, and they were no friends to humanity either.

They had the nasty habit of decorating their faces and heads with patches of dry skin held in place by facial piercings. Now I was all for taking trophies from a good kill, but this was just yucky.

"I've come to collect her" I went on to say "so if you wouldn't mind handing her over and then surrendering your weapons we can all get out of this in one piece"

The demons simply looked at each other and that at me in utter silence. Then one of them aimed a Luger pistol at me. Two of his compatriots pulled out machine guns while a third pulled out what was clearly a shotgun, but I didn't know the make. I didn't have time to think about it as I'd not realised they had this much firepower. I' never seen demons act like this before.

 _nnn- 'bthnk uaad_

As I casted the spell I was subjected to a hellish fusillade of fire that by all rights should have turned me into bloody chunks. I wasn't hurt at all, which was something the demons would be able to claim for very long.

(Line Break)

 **Docks. Sunnydale.**

Buffy slowly awoke to find herself face to face with a rather smug looking demon dressed in a uniform that looked like it came out of a WWII reenactment. Slowly she shook the cobwebs out of her head and examined her wrists. She was wearing a suspiciously light weight pair of manacles.

Slowly she looked up to the demon officer.

"You're not serious, right?" she said as she lifted her wrists, "I mean really? Is this really the best you've got?".

The demon simply sat back in his chair, which may as well have been a throne, and chuckled.

"Go ahead Slayer, test your bonds. I insist" invited the demon.

Buffy pulled her wrists apart, intending the snap the metal cable holding them. Only they simply wouldn't break.

"Those manacles are heavily enchanted so that they can contain even the strongest and most vicious half breeds. Creatures far stronger than the likes of you, Slayer" the Nazis explained.

Buffy glowered at him.

"Oh great, and here comes the evil villain plot" she complained "I swear, every time, what's next? You'll slowly lower me into a vat of acid, or a tank of sharks, sharks with fricking lasers beams".

The demon leader chuckled.

"If you die another Slayer is called" he then said "So keeping you contained is wiser, at least until we trade you for your lover, and then we'll take both of you".

Buffy had to laugh.

"You don't watch TV do you?" she then asked.

The demon leader was offended.

"No. I have no desire to indulge in the childish distractions of an inferior race" he stated.

Buffy knew this to be true.

"If you had you'd know that plans like that never work" the Slayer said "It will look as if it is going to plan, but then at the last second...".

She wasn't allowed to finish as the sound of gunfire reached her eardrums.

"Huh, guess Damien decided to skip that part" Buffy mused.

(Line Break)

 **Docks. Sunnydale.**

To the demons I must only be seen as a flutter of black clothing, and the only sound they must have heard were clank of my metal tipped boots. This had to be the case because I was going at full speed, and they never seemed to know exactly where I was. Which happened to be right behind five of them.

"Hello" I greeted.

Everyone stood utterly still for a long moment, until I lashed out with Cutter, my magical weapon, and ended the lives of five demons who'd foolish been standing too close together. Clearly they'd been new recruits, and poorly trained, at least when compared to other members of the Scourge I'd slain this evening.

One they were dead I reminded myself that I still needed to disable this vessel, even with the bridge crew wiped out the vessel was still able to sail and the bridge could be retaken. This was why I'd come down here to engine room.

The engine was a simple affair, the kind of simple but reasonably reliable internal combustion engine. It looked robust, hard to break, easy to repair, but like everything they had it could be destroyed. That was what grenades were for.

Soon the propeller stopped moving as the engine shook before it gave up. Sadly I'd done a bit too much damage. Several minutes from now this ship would be underwater which didn't leave me much time.

(Line Break)

 **Docks. Sunnydale.**

My Slayer senses told me that Buffy was somewhere forward, it was hard to narrow down her location due the interference given off by the demons. They were scared, and angry.

I moved swiftly through the narrow confines of the ship, and I did so quickly as I knew that my enemies knew I was here, they expected trouble, but right now they had no real idea exactly how much trouble I was bringing with me. Perhaps it would have been wiser to use stealth in order to thin out their numbers, but with Buffy at their mercy, taking my time was not a reasonable option.

A door opened ahead of me, and using my super strength I rammed my shoulder into it, slamming the steel door into the demon behind it, hard enough to break bones.

I opened the door, and stepped over the monster who was crippled but alive for the moment, to find two more surprised demons in my way. They snarled and rushed forward, unarmed. Two seconds later their bodies joined their broken comrade on the ground. The injured demon managed to rise to feet before I stabbed him.

Alarms began to sound as the Scourge realised this was a full on attack. Feet stamped down the corridor ahead of me, I could also hear harsh voices barking orders and threats, the click of weapons being prepared.

Real battle was about to start, in a few moments I would be in the thick of the action once again, and I knew I could beat them, but I didn't charge into the fight as I wished to, as that path was what led to so many Slayer dying young. Instead I advanced in a steady walk, not a run, not a sprint.

A team of 5 demons were now trying to bar my way at T section. The first two demons charging forward with melee weapons poised to strike while the three remaining demons held back at the T section. I saw that they had ranged weapons.

These demons were playing smart, they were hoping to keep my focus on the immediate threat while the three took their time to perfectly aimed shots. These demons operated as a team, there was a sense of coordination in their tactics and movements like on the bridge, and unlike the last lot I'd met.

 _throd uaaad_

I didn't normally use so much magic, I wasn't a proper witch and I didn't totally trust the mystic arts, but right now I needed the power. The spell made the slowly sinking ship shake hard enough that everyone other than myself, I'd been prepared, was knocked off their feet.

However this was nothing more than a distraction and it would take only a few moments for the demons with rifles to regain their footing and their aim. But a few moments was all I needed, for in that time I went from facing a coordinated team of 5 demons working in concert to dealing with them piecemeal where they couldn't unite their efforts and combine their strengths.

The first demon fell dead before he even realised what was going on, and before he could fully stand up, the second one managing a brief gargled shout as my blade went into his body.

Cries of rage and indignation filled the air as turned to the three Scourge members remaining got ready to kill. They had regained their footing and raised what I guessed to be StG 44s.

Thankfully my barriers dealt with the shots, and they didn't get a chance to fire a second time, as at this point I was too close to them. I stabbed one in the gut and withdrew my blade at once. Next I spun toward the second demon, which was still a threat, and with a swing I removed its head from its body.

It was remaining demon's credit that it reacted quickly enough to block my strike with its weapon. Fruitless though, as Cutter was able to cut through wood and steel with only a little more difficulty than flesh and bone.

Beyond these now dead demons a corridor opened up into the main cargo hold, a large area piled high with boxes, crates and barrels containing whatever materials the Scourge required.

If I was right moving through here was the quickest path to Buffy so I did not hesitate, walking confidently into the bay, boots clanging on metal to announce my presence.

The Scourge threw themselves into battle, some armed with spiked clubs, knives and swords, others with handguns and rifles. It was all for nought.

I cut through them all like they were wheat before the scythe. Cutter expressed its joy without words as I cut down demons. I kept moving weaving in and out of position, keeping mobile, slicing with the speed and precision only an experienced warrior could called upon.

The demons didn't know how to stop me. No doubt their capture of a Slayer had made them overconfident, arrogant, and that emotion was now beaten from them and poured out on the deck along with their so called pure demonic blood.

(Line Break)

 **Docks. Sunnydale.**

"Shut up girl!" the demon leader roared as he backhanded Buffy across the face for what just been a very witty remark.

Suddenly the entire ship was plunged into darkness, the sounds of machinery and activity dying away leaving only empty silence in its wake.

"Fine, you don't want to hear my selection of well-crafted puns that's your loss" said Buffy "Anyway, looks like you're going to be busy so I'll just let myself out".

The demon leader was too focused on the door leading to the fighting outside to realise what the Slayer was doing.

When he did turn around he found himself standing before him, an entirely unrestrained Buffy Summers.

"Uh oh" the Scourge officer muttered.

The Slayer was not well pleased.

"Judging from the outfit you're obviously a Nazi" Buffy was now saying "And you're a demon. Which makes you a Demon Nazi, and that's like evil times evil with a remainder of just plain wrong. I mean they don't even have a word for that kind of evil. So, even without the 'whole kidnapping innocent and beautiful maidens and taking them to your rusty old boat thing' well your future isn't looking that rosy right now".

The Scourge commander tried to pull his gun, but fast as he might have been he wasn't as fast as a clearly pissed off Slayer who was itching for some payback. She covered the ground between them in less a blink of the eye and simply slapped the pistol out of his hand so hard it all but shattered on impact with the wall.

"Now I'm not what you would call a sadist" Buffy said cheerfully "But I'm so going to enjoy beating you death".

(Line Break)

 **Docks. Sunnydale.**

I moved just in time to let the hail of bullets hit the deck rather me, and while I had barriers I didn't trust them too much after being shot with tranquiliser dart, so I was now using some crates for cover.

The Scourge had rallied and were mounting a better defence, they had blocked my path with demons who had automatic weapons. This was not ideal, because it was only a matter of time before one of them broke out the RGps, assuming they had any.

I didn't wait to find out. I had my own explosives. A grenade, which I threw with all my might. This killed the demons with automatic weapons, and scared the shit out of the rest of them.

Now I could almost feel their mounting dread as they began to realise just how over matched they were, yet they still came at me. Was it some sense of nobility that drove them? Discipline? Some sense of twisted demonic honour?

Not that it mattered I slew whoever or whatever got in my way, and I enjoyed it, so did my sword. Once I was done I used something Jojo the Mouse Morph had taught me in order to quickly reign in the part of me that wanted more bloodshed.

After that I reached out to locate my fellow Slayer, who my surprise joined me in the cargo hold.

"Oh, Buffy, hello" I said "I'm here to rescue you"

By the looks of things she'd been in the process of saving herself

"Uh... Well... um... Hi?" Buffy replied.

For some reason this was awkward, might have something to do with all the bodies and blood. Thankfully this came to an end when the ship lurched.

"Damien what did you do?" Buffy wished to know.

I soon told her, despite not wanting to.

"Well I sank the ship" I admitted "Actually it would be better to say I am sinking the ship".

The ship was still docked, so it wouldn't go down deep, but it was still filling with water.

"We need to leave" I said.

"Uh huh. Very much. Like nowish" Buffy agreed.

(Line Break)

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

"So what did they want for?" Tara asked as she brought a cup of warm milk into my study "The demons I mean".

Buffy had, in one of moments of cleverness, snagged a file from the desk of the Scourge's leader. Which told me a few things.

"Basically they wanted a blood hound" I told her "The Bloodhound is a large dog, bred for hunting deer, wild boar, and for tracking people.. They had plans to control me so they could use me to track half-breeds".

Which was something I could do.

"That's horrible" Tara said.

And stupid. I wasn't trainable, it would be like trying to hunt with a pissed off bear rather than a tamed dog.

"Also I found that this group of the Scourge, the demons who kidnapped Buffy, was only one group" I went on to tell Tara "A big one, but the commander of the demons mentioned his desire to command a legion, which means there are thousands more of them out there. They may attack".

The witch was undesirably concerned.

"But they can't come to this house" she needlessly reminded "We're protected from demons by the tree".

By that she meant the baby nature god growing in the back yard, which was the offspring of Mareth's Earth goddess.

"No, but have some weapons from World War Two, and even some grasp of tactics" I informed Tara "I won't be surprised if they drove a tank up the road".

There wasn't much I could do about that, aside from having the VI at CRD keep an eye on demon movements and alert me if any of the tainted creatures got close to the house.

"But I wouldn't worry" I assured Tara "I sank their ship so the rest of the Scourge won't know what happened. And if needs be we can go on the offencive against them".

This would have to wait until after Xmas. Hopefully the demon Nazis weren't active when Santa was about.

"My real concern is that both Buffy and I have been taken" I said, more to myself than to the other person in the room "And both times by groups using unexpected methods".

In truth the Scourge didn't worry me to much, they were focused on the half-breeds, and were more likely to return to hunting their favourite prey rather than try to tackle Buffy and I, if only so they could back to feeling superior.

What really bothered me was that smarter foes were staring to appear. Mostly in the past the big bads I'd faced were direct, oh some like the Master had grand plans, but still they tended to throw minions at their problems with no concern for losses. They believed themselves unstoppable as such lacked proper defences.

The Scourge had been different. True they'd not been prepared for me, or even for Buffy, but they'd been less foolish than past foes. Had their ship left the harbour sooner I'd have had a much tougher time getting to my fellow Slayer. Worse they'd used somewhat modern weapons, and they'd had some grasp of small unit tactics.

Perhaps this had something to do with the balance the Powers loved so much. As my group grew stronger, wiser and better equipped, the balance would send more dangerous threats my way. Or maybe we were simply drawing the attention of more powerful groups due to how success we'd been.

Either way my course of action was clear. I was going to have to up my game as it were. Recruit more allies, improve my defences, and my group organise better. But that could wait until tomorrow. For now I wanted to take Tara to bed, and since she hanging my study not saying anything it was clear that she wanted some attention.

"Come on let's go to bed" I told the witch.

Hearing that made her smile.


	15. Chapter 15

**Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 15**

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

Many young women entered and left my home, not just members of my harem, but also the odd friend of one of my girls. This was why I'd gotten into the recent habit of locking the door to my study and to my bedroom. My girls were more popular in their senior year than they had been before. That might have something do with their increased allowances.

Aside from the possibility of a human spy for some group befriending one of my girls, I also had to beware of simple curiosity. I didn't want some normal girl seeing the wrong thing. Sure I could wipe her memory, but I'd really rather not.

It was odd for Kendra to come and visit, oh she came to hang out with Buffy sometimes, and she had some connection to the rest of my harem, but none of them were here right now. Kendra had come alone.

I stood stripped to my waist as I'd been training here in my dojo. I'd been spending far too much time recently using guns, swords, and magic. It wouldn't do to neglect the hand to hand.

Besides my head was too full of plans, so much so that I'd been having trouble deciding on a course of action. Doing something simple like beating up a punching bag was doing wonders for clearing my head.

"Can I help you?" I asked my visitor.

My tone was a calm one. Kendra was somewhat skittish, and I didn't want to scare her off.

"You... you know about the dreams that Slayers sometimes have, correct?" she asked.

Kendra's eyes were down and to the side, for some reason she was trying not to look at me.

"Sure, Buffy has them every once in a while" I said "There less common for me, and I know both potential and active Slayers do have dreams about past Slayers fighting demons".

Faith never complained about nightmares, and I never remembered my dreams unless they were they were in fact messages from the Powers. I had a few theories about that. I suspected that at least part of it was because both Faith and I had rough childhoods, although hers had been far worse than mine, that the nightmares simply didn't register as horrible. That or we process the information supplied to us by past Slayers in a different way than others had.

"Kendra, you haven't been dreaming of your death, have you? I asked "Or of something bad happening to other people?".

That would explain why she seemed so out of sorts. I'd not heard of a potential Slayer having a dream about future events, but it should be possible.

"No, no, nothing like that" she assured me "I've never had dreams of things to come".

Kendra raised her head, but still had trouble looking at me.

"My dreams can get... intense, so sometimes I have trouble remembering that they are not real" she told me.

Kendra then looked up and into my eyes, there was a look on her face that I didn't recognise.

"Sometimes it about things I wish I could do if I wasn't a Slayer that could be" she said next.

I smiled, just a little.

"Hey, if Buffy has proven anything, it's that you can be a Slayer and have a somewhat normal life too" I said to the Jamaican girl "And even I have fun once in a while. Go ahead and cut loose sometime, Kendra. You only live once".

I started toward her so that I could get my shirt, which was on the table behind her and put it back on, since I was getting cold now that I wasn't moving about.

What I did not expect was for Kendra to grab me by the shoulder, pull me up against her and give me a hard kiss on the lips.

I was motionless for a second while Kendra's lips moved against mine, but then I snapped out of it and began to kiss her back. I could tell that Kendra didn't really know what she was doing.

Soon I was feeling Kendra's lips firmly against mine, I slowly opened my mouth and put my tongue in her mouth. Which she didn't react well to.

"What. Did I do something wrong?" I asked "Buffy did mention that you might join my harem. I thought that was what your way of telling me you want in".

Kendra's face was a few inches away from mine, even though her body was still pressed up against mine. But this close to her, I finally recognised the emotions running through her eyes; desire and fear.

"I... I... have these dreams... of things that I want to do... but I don't really know how to do them. This is one of them" Kendra admitted as she looked away from me. "I've been wanting to be with a boy for a long time now, but I'm not allowed to be".

Kendra looked right at me when she spoke next.

"I want to be with you, Damien" she told me.

Oh so those sort of dreams. Naughty ones.

"You have been in my dreams, sir... I mean Damien" she went on to say "That is why I want to... be with you. I want to feel like a normal girl, if only for a little time, and I want to be yours".

For once in my life, I was speechless. This was hardly new ground for me. Willow had joined up last year, but for some reason this all seemed a little too much for me to process. Perhaps I'd been over using my mind, or it could be the recent abduction. That could have weakened my confidence.

Thinking on the matter I recalled that I had recently decided to recruit more allies, as the dangers were increasing, but I hadn't really thought about Kendra. But I could see that the idea was good, she might be shy, but also she admired me. Plus while I didn't like to think of it, there was a chance that Buffy would die and that Kendra would be the next Chosen One. It would be very wise to have some influence over Kendra if that happened.

"I shouldn't have said that, you don't want me, this was a mistake..."

Kendra had taken my silence the wrong way.

"Sorry. Guys are used to making the first move and you declaring your intentions threw me for a sec" I said to the possible Slayer "Now are you sure you want to be to join my harem?".

Her answer was to pull me closer, so that her body was now tightly pressed up against mine.

"I do know what I want" she said.

The look of desire in Kendra's eyes was now plain to see.

"I want you. I want you to kiss me, to... touch me" she said.

While I didn't speak I still let my mouth do the talking. Cautiously, Kendra began to kiss back, her tongue moving against mine, she was growing bolder every second.

Soon Kendra was rubbing up against me, so I slid my hands down from her waist to her butt and got myself a good squeeze. By this time I had a serious erection going on and she gasped into my mouth when she felt it press against her, but that didn't stop her from rubbing up against me some more.

Moving one of my hands up her back and toward the front, I brushed my fingers against her breast, feeling her hardened nipple under the material of her shirt and bra. Kendra murmured slightly but didn't stop me so I gently squeezed her breast, and she gasped into my mouth again.

Breaking off the kiss, I took Kendra's hand in mine and pulled her away from the table and towards my bedroom. She stumbled slightly, but followed me anyway.

"Where... where are we going, Damien?" Kendra asked in a low, nervous voice.

I smiled at her.

"Well we don't want someone to walk in on us" I said.

Once we went through the door and I locked it, Kendra stood next to the door while I got onto the bed. By then Kendra was standing with her hands clasped together in front of her, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. I walked up to Kendra and took her hands in mine. One hand moved up and touched her face, lifting it so that her eyes were looking into mine.

"You know, it's OK if you don't want to go any further" I assured her.

There were parts of me screaming that this would not be OK, but I shoved those thoughts away. I had a whole harem, so wasn't as if blue balls would be an issue for long.

"I want to, Damien. You do not know how much I want to" she told me.

While slowly moving backwards, I pulled Kendra along with me until we were both sitting on the bed. I kicked my shoes off and Kendra followed suit so that we wouldn't get bootprints of my nice sheets.

Next I ran my hands along her shoulders, sliding her leather coat off and tossing it on to the floor.

After that Kendra took a deep breath and pulled her top off, revealing a black bra underneath. Unbuckling her belt and pants she slid those off, leaving her in only bar and her matching black panties. Again she nervously was once biting her lip so I decided it would be wise to distract her.

I quickly pulled off my jeans, leaving myself in black boxers

"Anyone ever tell you how sexy you are?" I asked Kendra.

She had a fine body, well honed by exercise.

"No. I do not, as you say, 'get out much.' All I do is study and train" she replied

Kendra started to tremble as I began to kiss her neck.

"Yes. Oh yes..." she whispered.

I moved my hands to the clasp on the back of Kendra's bra and managed to get it undone with a minimum of fumbling. Thankfully I'd had some practice at that.

My right hand gently squeezed her breast before I rubbed her hard nub with my thumb. Looking down at the dark brown nipple, I noticed how nicely it contrasted with her mocha coloured skin. It was inviting so I ducked my head and took the nipple in my mouth, feeling Kendra start to tremble as I sucked and licked her nipple

After more time than should have past I, reluctantly, moved my mouth away from her breast and back up to her mouth, gently kissing her before taking her hand and easing her down to the bed.

Kendra lay back, and I reached for her underwear. As our eyes met, she nodded, giving me silent permission, and I carefully pulled the garment down and off leaving her completely nude. Normally I wouldn't care about permission, but it was important to give the potential Slayer time to adjust to being in my harem before I dominated her in the bedroom.

Seeing the moisture glistening in the dark tangled curls between her legs, I figured she was ready. Still I felt it best to test the waters so to speak. Also I reminded myself to make sure she got rid of her down there hair. I liked my girls bare.

Easing my index finger into her channel, I was suddenly aware that a) Kendra was really hot and wet inside, and b) there was no barrier.

The no hymen thing threw me for a sec, until I remembered how active Kendra was. She no doubt did a lot of high-kicking and such during her training, so I figured that was the cause. Given her lack of experience with the less fairer sex I doubted she wasn't a virgin

I moved back and pulled down my boxers. Kicking them off, I saw her eyes focus on my cock, which was starting to ache a little from being so turned on.

Reading the look on her face, I sat beside her and took her hand and bought it to my cock. Kendra hesitantly wrapped her hand around my hardness and moving slowly she stroked me, running her hand from the base to the tip and back again. I smiled to encourage her, but stopped her before too long, as now wasn't the time to teach her how to please me. That could happen later.

Soon I had my cock sliding into her opening. Kendra moaned in agreement, her hot wet channel clenching hard around me as I slowly filled her. Kendra was clearly savouring the sensation of me inside her while I tried not to lose control. I had to be careful to hold back as she wouldn't be used to getting pounded like my other girls were.

Moving gradually, I began to slide in and out of her, her gasps letting me know that she was enjoying herself. Over time the sounds coming from her throat changed from sighs to moans and then to groans, gradually forming into words.

"More... I need more.. please, I need more..." she informed me.

Kendra's eyes were close, her breathing was rapid. She gave a loud moan as my weight on top of her pushed me deeper into her, thrusting up her hips as she wrapped her lower legs around my thighs.

Moving slowly, I began to thrust into Kendra, her muscles tightening as the sensations built up inside her. Her moans were getting louder as I sped up, matching my own groans of pleasure as she tightened around my cock, the heat and wetness felt so good. She had a Slayer cunt that was for sure. Normal pussy just didn't compare.

Thrusting forward again, Kendra gave a short shriek as I hit rock bottom, my cock was now completely inside her. I began to move again, slowly at first, speeding up when Kendra cried out at me to so, until I was finally pounding into her, my hips grinding into her mound

Finally Kendra began to shudder and spasm, her moans becoming a single long cry.

Feeling Kendra's muscles clench down on me as she began to orgasm, I lost control and began to orgasm, thrusting forward as my fluid began to spill into her.

Once I was done I moved away from her just a little. Then I lay down beside Kendra and pulled her into my arms, feeling her breathing slow from the frantic rate of before to something more normal.

Tilting her face toward mine, I kissed her lightly on the lips and moved back a little, watching the emotions crossing her face. There was only contentment and pleasure on her relaxed face.

Slowly Kendra opened her eyes and looked at me. I just gave her a small version of my lopsided grin and waited for her reaction. And what I got was something I would have never expected from Kendra; she began to giggle.

That was not what I had expected. I'd never heard her laugh, and I realised that this was because until now I'd never seen her happy, not truly happy.

(Line Break)

 **The Citadel of Gothics.**

"Next we'll get you your own enchanted weapon and maybe an amulet to enhance your fighting skills" I told Kendra.

Kendra was very different from my other girls I had soon discovered. She had no issue with me modifying her. Granted most of the alterations I'd made were for her own protection, such as the anti possession tattoo I'd had inked to her skin. But already I'd taken her to Mareth for her enchanted ear, nipple and clit rings, which were as much about marking my territory as they were making her a formidable fighter.

The only thing she had protested about was the branding, and that was understandable, as she didn't want to treated like cattle, she might be more comfortable about basically being owned by a man than some of my other girls, but she was still her own person.

Thankfully once I'd explained that the brand would allow her safe passage when exploring the Citadel, and that it made sure everyone understood she was part of my harem, she warmed up to the idea.

The brands also ensured that should I encounter an alternate version of someone who was part of my harem I would know that they weren't my version of that person. I imagined that this had prevented many silly mistakes.

"This looks good" I said to Kendra when we entered the store

Before, resting in a display case was a weapon called The Silver-Inlaid Dagger, it offered an enhancement to the attacking power of anyone who used it, and this magic was stronger if a human used the weapon. I wasn;t quite sure of the scale, but by comparing into other weapons I'd gotten from this store I knew was decent enough considering the price.

"A dagger would suit you best" I told Kendra "A sword is more noticeable and I my resources aren't unlimited".

My entire harem wanted a Xmas bonus for shopping and I'd allowed it, but that would all be paid for in American dollars, which I had plenty of. Alas they were worthless here on the Citadel. Here I had exchange stuff like advanced tech and rare materials for the local currency, and that limited me on what I could buy.

"Whatever you decide will be fine, sir" was what Kendra had to say on the matter.

I wasn't certain why she'd stopped calling me Damien, perhaps it was because other people were around. If this was the case then it was something we could discuss later.

My thoughts on the subject came a quick end when I saw Daenerys Targaryen leave the store. She'd come out of the back room, and given who owned this store that meant she had to have some connection with Planeswalker Gothic. Maybe she was in his harem, if so I envied the lucky bastard. She was even better looking in person.

Also it meant that Game of Thrones was real, that might be a world worth a visit, then again maybe not it was a messed up place. But that could wait as I had somewhere else I wanted to take my girls first.

(Line Break)

 **The Leaky Cauldron. Wizarding World.**

As expected Willow, Amy, Tara, Faith, Buffy, Kendra and myself were able to find the Leaky Cauldron. We went through the muggle repelling charms without any trouble and entered the pub.

This made sense to me as Willow, Amy and Tara were witches, were as rest of use were Slayer, even potential Slayers had some of the mojo inside them. A muggle repelling charm didn't effect magical creatures, I knew that from the books, so since none of us were muggles they had no effect on us even though none of us were wand wavers.

In this time line, Voldemort had returned, only to be destroyed by a creature summoned by Planeswalker Gothic, the creature had been a god, sort of, and had slaughtered the Dark Lord's inner circle. If Riddle had been killed the guide didn't say, but he'd never been restored to power a third time, at least not yet.

Dressed as we were, my girls and I were instantly the centre of attention. I looked around for a moment, ignoring the stares we were getting, and then went to the bartender. However I didn't speak to him.

"Hello, mister, we're not from around here and need to enter Diagon Alley to visit Gringotts. Could you help us out with that?" Willow requested.

The Citadel of Gothics had a book called the Planeswalkers Guide to the Multiverse, copies of which were handed out freely and came in both paperback, hardback and in electronic version. As such we were well prepared for this trip. The guide advised us to act that the part of tourists, in this case Americans. Which would be easy since most of the group were from the USA.

This was wise because Magical Britain, as it was called, was made up of old families who all knew each other and even the Muggleborns were well known once they'd been attending Hogwarts for a few years. As such I wouldn't be talking much. I couldn't do a proper American accent. Kendra's accent was clearly Jamaican, I only sometimes noticed that, but she wasn't the chatty type so this wouldn't be an issue.

"Call me Tom" invited the bartender "Now just go through that door and then..."

Someone else spoke.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help but to hear you are on your way to Gringotts and need some help with that?" a young man asked us".

Willow, who was the member of my harem most well versed in this world having actually read one of the books, as well as having studied the guides chapter on this world, smiled at the young man.

"We do" she said.

"My grams," he said while pointing at an older lady, at one of the tables, "and I are on our way there ourselves and we can show you the way if you like".

This had to be Neville Longbottom

"That would be great" Willow replied before she turned to the bartender "Thank you Tom, it looks like we found some help."

Following the young man we soon reached the table where the old lady sat. She had wanted seemed to be a dead and stuff vulture on her hat. Very odd.

"Grams? I offered these people to show them the way to the ally, since we're going there ourselves. It's alright, isn't it?" the young man asked, sounding a bit unsure.

The old lady looked at us for a moment and then nodded.

"Of course Neville," she said and then stood up. "Greetings, I'm Augusta Longbottom and this young grandson of mine is Neville"

We made our introductions and moments later we were heading out the back. Neville opened the way, and when we got into the ally all my girls really began to really look tourists. I was less overwhelmed as I'd seen the movies. Realising that made me think that Willow would really enjoy reading the books yet to be published in her world. I should find out if the Citadel had copies.

"My dears, is this the first time you've seen magical shops" Ms. Longbottom asked the girls.

Tara spoke for the group.

"We only have one magic shop in our town" she told the old witch "Most people where were from don't believe in magic".

Ms. Longbottom would assume from this that we were magic users who lived in a muggle town, and for the most part this was true. Faith, Kendra and Buffy had little talent for the mystic arts, despite nearly everyone being able to do some magic in their world. But there was no need to mention that.

"We need to go to the bank first" Willow reminded everyone.

I was glad that she was taking charge and directing the group because if I spoke it would be clear to the Longbottoms that I was British, and then they'd no doubt enquire as to why they'd never seen me at Hogwarts. I didn't know enough about this culture to answer such questions. They might have homeschooling or other schools I simply didn't know.

"You know you look like..." Neville said to me.

He was trying to place my face.

"Ok, let's hurry then" Faith said, almost dragging me away.

A few minutes later, after we'd separated from the Longbottoms we reached the big and imposing building the goblins used as their bank.

As we came nearer to the guards Buffy tensed, and her hand went to her hidden weapon. The goblins felt not demonic, but a bit evil, made sense they were bankers.

"Easy, they're friendly enough until you attack them or try to steal from them. No need to slay here." I said in a quiet tone.

Finally we entered the building. And I went to the next free teller I could see. Knowing that at this point I was free to talk. The guide went into detail about the goblins making it clear they simply didn't care who set up accounts or why. As long as you had gold they would let you use the bank services, and they didn't talk the other locals much so there was little to no chance of exposure.

As I reached the teller, I nodded to the Goblin in greeting. This race didn't care much for manners, but still it was best not to be rude. They also liked people to be direct.

"Good day. I would like to speak to the Goblin responsible for setting up new accounts" I said.

There was no need here for small talk.

"If you would wait here for a moment, I will be right back," the Goblin answered and then quickly vanished into the backrooms of the bank.

After a few minutes he returned

"If you and your associates would follow me?" he said.

Which we did.

(Line Break)

 **Diagon Alley. Wizarding World.**

As the guide had told me setting up an account at the bank was easy. The goblins were greedy and cared not for the lives of humans. They had eagerly accepted a few hundred Mareth gems, a small amount of mithril and some coins from the Forgotten Realms. These had been exchanged for local money, some of which was now in a vault, most of which was shared between myself and my harem.

The guide had warned not to use bank notes or coins minted by more modern humans, as they only had value if the government that made that money backed up their currency. The goblins did exchange muggle money for wizard money, but I had no way of knowing if American dollars looked the same in this world as they did in Buffy's. Nor did I wish to waste time exchanging gold for British pounds. It was best to limit our time here.

"From what the guide says" Willow informed as she spoke softly to the group "Mr Ollivander, might be aware that we're from out of town. Also it says that not all magic users can make wands work".

I doubted that I would be able to use one. I didn't really care, so I wouldn't even try one. I was a warrior. I killed my enemies with my hands or took their lives with a blade, or sometimes a gun. It was right and honourable to me. Besides my Slayers powers worked best that way.

Not that this was always a good thing. The downside to being a Slayers as that we weren't always smart fighters, sometimes we wanted to hunt alone, even if weren't totally aware of this desire.

That was partly why both Buffy and I had been captured recently. Sure the people who'd captured us had used clever methods, at least clever by their standards, but the overconfidence that came with being a Slayer had played apart.

This was one of the reasons why'd brought my girls to this world for some Xmas shopping. I was planning on buying some special port keys from the Citadel, that were made with wand magic, these port keys could be worn, and if a special word was spoken they would bring the person connected to the port key to a safe place. The port key would have have to replace a peicering, and they had be replaced every time they were used. Hopefully at least one of my witches would learn to create these special port keys for the group. They weren't cheap.

"One last thing is that this version of Ollivander, is known to give discounts to people who bring materials for wand cores" Willow told us all "That includes form magical creatures. Wonder if hair from a Slayer would make a good wand?".

As did I.

"That can be dangerous" warned Tara "Some of the most powerful curses involve someone's hair".

This was something I also knew.

"The guide says it safe" Willow replied "I don't think a curse like that would work if were in another dimension, and from what I know from the book the wand chooses the wizard, or witch, so I guess once the hair or whatever goes into the wand it becomes a part of the wand and not connected any more to whoever used to be connected to the wand's core".

My own knowledge of wands supported this. Besides it wouldn't make sense for Ollivander to endanger the people supplying him materials. It just wouldn't be good business. Also if Planeswalker Gothic said it was safe I believed him. That version of me was an ascended magical god more or less, so he should understand how wands worked, and since he was me I knew he wouldn't make a statement in his book unless he could back it up.

"We'll risk it" Buffy decided, while glancing at me for confirmation "If he does curse us Slayers it won't effect you witches and you can kick some wand makers butt".

Not for the first time I noted how well Buffy served as my second in command, at least much of the time. Humans might be evolved from apes, but in my view we operated more like wolves when in groups. In most wolf packs, there will be an alpha male and female. Wolves show deference to the alpha pair in their pack by allowing them to be the first to eat and, usually, the only pair to reproduce. Granted in this group that wasn't the case, Buffy had never reproduced and when we ate together Buffy and I didn't chow down first. We did eat the most, but that was because Slayers needed the extra.

I remembered reading somewhere that wolves use eye contact as an indicator of dominance or submission, and in order to establish a dominant position they often also show physical superiority. Buffy and I certainly had the physical superiority part down, and when she'd just looked at me she wanted confirmation on her choice. If I'd given her look of disapproval I was sure she would have backed down. However she may have required a reasonable explanation. Which I would have been happy to provide. Still it we were somewhat wolf like.

Buffy was clearly the alpha female, which was why in the show she'd never really gotten along well with Kendra and Faith as they also been Slayers. As potential Slayers they were more comfortable with Buffy being the alpha female. I had to wonder if something fatal ever happened to Buffy if Kendra or Faith, depending on who got the powers, would slip into her role easily, but I'd rather not find out.

I shook my head and dismissed those thoughts, they were interesting, but not important at this point. We had shopping to do. I wanted to buy a pensive, that I would keep at the Citadel, just in case my memories were every missed with. I knew that Ben and Glory were sort of the same person, and I might forget that if or when Glory came to Sunnydale. Plus at some point Dawn could be added to the mix, I might end up with two sets of memories about her, or my memories from the show could be changed by the monks. It was best to have unmodified memories stored away just in case.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author Note**

My co-author for Augment Gothic is currently working on the latest chapter of that story, and to tide you over until then I have a couple of chapters of my BTVS story for you.

Also I did try to make this chapter more thrilling, but every time I tried to write the big action scene I just couldn't make it work. I'll do better with the next chapter.

 **Reviews**

 **Joe Lawyer**

Bad idea to activate Slayers using magic. The imbalance in the Slayer line was what allowed the First Evil to go after the whole line of Slayers. The First Evil isn't something Slayer Gothic can fight.

Nice ideas, but occlumency is a defence against mind reading. It might work against a spell just meant to modify one person's memory like Lockhart tried to do to Harry and Ron in the Chamber of Secrets, but the spell changing memories like for Dawn and later Conner effected the whole world and it couldn't have been limited to memories since Dawn must have had school reports, medical records and so on. The spell changed reality not just people's memories. The same for Conner who was applying for collages at the end of Angel season 5, that would have required him to exist in records.

This is why Slayer Gothic is keep a backup of his memories, they can be altered on a massive scale, no defence can be certain to work, but the spell might not work across realities so memories stored at the Citadel should be safe.

 **Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 16**

 **The Leaky Cauldron. The Wizarding World.**

While I'd intended to limit our time in the world of wand wavers, Diagon Alley had proved to be too interesting to so easily leave. There was so much to see, so much to buy, that one afternoon simply hadn't been enough. Already we'd had to buy means of carrying more things that we brought. Thankfully they had plenty of those bigger on the inside pouches here.

Tired from a long day of buying magical items I'd decided to rent rooms at the Leaky Cauldron for myself and my girls, with the intention of finishing our shopping in the morning before returning home before lunchtime.

I wasn't sure what time that would be back home, but there was no rush, school was out for the holidays and there were no signs of anything dangerous going on in Sunnydale or in Magical Britain, so my harem and I would spend the night here.

"Pumpkin juice is horrible" I complained as I sampled some of the local beverages "As is Butterbeer".

To me it tasted a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch, however I hated the taste of butterscotch. True to its name, the Gigglewater caused the drinker to laugh out loud when consumed. A few of my girls were trying it.

With the drinking age being 18 rather than 21 in the UK, I had no trouble ordering proper drinks.

Thankfully the fire whiskey was more drinkable, and was only on fire for a short amount of time, though it did leave a burning sensation in my mouth when drunk.

Next I sipped a glass of some sort of spirit called Daisyroot Draught, it was not very good either.

"Bleh" was the noise that came out of my mouth.

The magic users of this world had some very funny tastes, not just in drinks, but also in dress, there was just something wrong about men not wearing proper trousers.

Next up was something called Dragon Scale, a wizarding brand of ale that, well it started out as an ale, and somehow ended up as a lager. I didn't understand how that worked, so I put it down to magic.

I looked over to see Amy who was currently poking her Shepard's Pie with a fork.

"Do you think they're real sheppards in this?" she asked me.

I assured her that the meal was people free. What I didn't say was that I could only be sure that muggle version of the dish was, who knew if these wizards and witches put in sheppards pie, but it did smell like lamb so I wasn't concerned.

"You know I once heard that a culture should be judged not by its music, its art or science, or even by how it treats the vulnerable people within it, but by its wine, women and food" I said to Amy, who was the only one of my harem sharing a table with me "I think this culture could do with some improvements".

I'd been raised on British cooking so I didn't find the food so bad, but the drinks needed work, as for the women, there were hags here, real warty child-eating hags, enough said.

"Shouldn't you be more supportive of your homeland" Amy remarked as I complained to her about the local drinks.

I had to wash out the taste of Paulopabita's Fishy Green Ale before I could reply.

"First of all I'm Welsh not English" I told her "Second of all I was raised muggle, this is not my culture, and its still better than American beer as that stuff is like making love in a canoe".

Amy looked confused.

"Its fucking close to water" I explained.

She sighed.

"Are you drunk?" she asked.

I wasn't even sure I could get drunk. Sure Buffy had in the show, but that hadn't been normal beer, that had been caveman making beer. Magic could alter the rules.

"Well I'm not dragging us off to a takeaway for chicken and chips" I replied "So not yet".

I wondered what year it was in the muggle world, and if they put pineapple on pizza in the universe. I bloody loved that if I'd been drinking.

(Line Break)

 **The Leaky Cauldron. The Wizarding World.**

I jerked awake in the middle of the night as a Slayer dream woke me up. I wasn't sure what was happening, Slayer Dreams never came with footnotes, but I knew something dark was nearby.

My finely-tuned supernatural senses soon told me this, but what really clued me was the agonised screaming that soon filled the air. The dream had only brought me a few seconds, but that was enough to get me out of bed, and to put a weapon in my hand. I even had time to put my boots on. On the way out of the room I took out the knife I hidden in my jacket.

I was using Cutter too much, but right now I couldn't worry about that. Later I could place the demonic weapon somewhere safe, in order to ensure it didn't have too much influence on me.

When I got out of my room I saw a large group of women, mostly my harem, fleeing down the corridor. It was odd that were running from danger, but to be fair they were hardly ready for a fight. It was hard to battle evil when you bare foot.

The panic had started due to a robed and masked figure who was currently blasting a red coloured spell at the fleeing women, and somehow missing. Red light was a stunner if I remembered correctly. This Death Eater, the figure had to be one of them, was not here to kill, but to capture. But I had no time to think more about that.

Cutter was more than just a sword, it was a demonic weapon, and one of its features was the energy field that surrounded the blade. With I was able to deflect multiple spell attacks. The spells hit my sword much like a blaster bolt hit a lightsabre, only since I wasn't a Jedi I didn't have the skill to send the spells back at the Death Eater.

"Who are you?" asked the dark wizard.

I shifted myself and my weapon into a classic aggressive posture with the blade pointing at the black-robed ass hole.

"Me. I am the Slayer" I told the figured "I'm the guy who kicks the butt of evil even when half naked".

At least I was getting the chance to show off my muscles and cool magical markings.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" cried a shorter figure, someone who had just appeared from left of the one who was doing the talking.

Knowing that the green spells would spell my doom (pun not intended) I dropped, rolled and then sent my own spell at the wizards, magical flames. Alas they were stopped by some sort of shield.

"You would be well advised to not attack the servants of the Dark Lord," warned the taller Death Eater.

I was now back on my feet, and I was reaching for the knife I'd taken out my jacket while leaving my room.

"Are you serving Mouldyshorts?" I asked "Or have you found another freak's feet to kiss".

My words proved to be the distraction I desired.

"How dare you mock the Dark Lord," screeched the shorter Death Eater "CRUC...!"

I was throwing the knife even as those words were being spoken. The Throwing Knife, was not just a knife, it was one of Planeswalker Gothic's magical items. I had wondered if mortal weapons could kill wand wavers, so I'd picked something enchanted just in case.

The knife prevented the wizard from finishing his spell, but it didn't kill him, the guy was soon on the floor howling in pain, these wand wavers were tougher than they looked.

"You'll have to do better than that," I taunted.

There was another curse, something purple, but I dodged that easily enough, my speed and reflexes were superior to centuries old vampires, compared to that these wizards were sloth like in their movements.

"I've seen old grannies move faster than that! Your Lord will be most disappointed" I said, making sure to fill the word 'Lord' with as much disrespect as I could manage "Care to try again?".

The taller figured seemed to vibrate in rage for just a moment and then with a soft pop he disappeared into thin air. Leaving his wounded comrade behind.

Then my danger sense flared, my markings itched, and I moved just in time as a flash of purple light cleaved through the space I had just vacated. It had come from behind me, so I turned around to face my foe. The Death Eater had teleported back into the corridor.

"STUPEFY!"

There was another flash of light but it was not aimed at me. I spared a moment to glance over my shoulder to see what was going on and saw a dark-haired young man and a red-headed girl charging into the fray, as they launched their own spells. The dark-haired boy was particularly furious in his spell-casting and soon had the Death Eater pinned down in a battering of spells.

Soon more of Mort Munchers were joining the battle but with two actual spell-casters backing me up, they stood no chance against and soon retreated, all disappearing into thin air at the same time with a loud crack of displaced air. It was over so fast that I didn't even have the chance to kill anyone.

"Who are you!" the young man demanded to know.

I ignored him and headed down to find my harem.

"Calm down, Harry," said the girl as the two locals followed me into the pub's main room "We need to get moving before the Aurors arrive".

My whole harem was by the bar, and by the looks of things they'd had a fight here too. No one was dead, but the tables and chairs were all over the place.

"Aurors?" asked Faith, tactful as ever "What the hell are Aurors?".

I knew, but I was too busy with my own trail of thought to answer.

"Dark Wizard catchers," said the dark haired guy "They work for the Ministry of Magic. They're like muggle policemen".

"And this is a bad thing?" I heard Kendra enquire.

At this point I was picking up a newspaper. It reported an attack and I chided myself for not checking. However in my defence no one we'd run into during the day had seemed concerned. But that might just be denial. I'd seen enough of it in Sunnydale to know. Plus the paper mentioned nothing about Death Eaters, there must have been a cover up to prevent public panic.

Also I figured I needed to have words with Planeswalker Gothic, his guide needed updating. I wouldn't dare do so in an disrespectful way since he was magical god, but I needed to ensure that no one else came here. There had to be other, safer time lines.

"They'll arrest anyone these days," the lad said. "Anything to have something to point at and say 'we're doing a good job really'".

Guess the Ministry for Magic was just as useless here as it was in the books.

"Great. Time for us to go" said Buffy said, while turning around to go back to her room and gather her belongings.

The rest of the harem started to follow. As did I since I didn't want to fight more Death Eaters while topless. It was colder here in London than it was in California

"Wait up," said Harry, almost jogging to keep up with our rapid strides.

We stopped.

"Come with us," he said. "We have a couple of portkeys, we can have all of you out of here in a couple of seconds".

Well I'd been meaning to investigate portkeys, might as well try one out.

"We have to get our stuff" said Willow, who sounded as if she'd be heartbroken if we didn't,.

I agreed with gathering our purchases otherwise shopping was for nothing. I could just not have that.

"Okay. Meet us in room 9 and make it fast," said the local with a hint of urgency in his voice "We'll have to leave without you if you take too long".

That was when I saw the lightening bolt scar, and realised who this was. Normally I'd be starstruck, but there was no time for that. Besides he wasn't that impressive, I'd actually saved a whole world. He hadn't even been able to destroyed one dark wizard.

(Line Break)

 **Unknown. Magical Britain.**

"What a nice home you have," one of my girls said.

It wasn't at all nice. It was dark, it was dusty, it smelled bad, and I had no idea where I was. I felt that I should know, but I didn't. It was an odd feeling.

"No-one lived in it but an insane house-elf for years," said Harry Potter "and it's not like we've had time to really clean it".

I found that I could not speak or even think of the name of this place. Had to be something to do with the spell they used to hide places, but I had been brought here so I should know, it was confusing. This was another thing I should look in to.

"Mum's tried but nothing seems to work," said the girl, Ginny her name was "The house doesn't seem to want to be clean".

Burning it down might be an option.

"You know you look like..." Harry started to say.

He wasn't allowed to finish.

"Oi, Harry, Ginny, any reason why you've brought all these strangers here ?" asked a young woman.

Sh had pink hair, was was leaning on the door frame while giving my harem and I a very strange look.

"They were attacked by Death Eaters" Ginny told the woman.

She had to be Tonks, this was confirmed when her hair changed colour, going from pink to blue in a second.

"He" said Harry, while pointing at me "Fought two of them with just a sword".

They must not have seen me use magic.

"It was pretty impressive too," added Ginny.

This caused Tonks to get all serious.

"Wait a second," asked the woman. "You ran into Death Eaters? This was supposed to be a quick look around and then back to base job!".

I wondered what could have drawn both the heroes and villains of this world to the Leaky Cauldron. It must have something to do with my group and I being there. Perhaps a Death Eater spy had been at the inn and had reported that a group of unknown people with a lot of money were at the alley. They might even have found out about us via the bank. Doubtful the goblins would have mentioned given that they cared not for human affairs, but perhaps some human employee had tipped the dark wizards off.

"Does anything work out that easily when Harry's involved?" asked Ginny.

Not according to the books and movies.

"Suppose not," replied the older woman before looking at my group "So who are you lot?"

I spoke for the group.

"My name is Damien" I told the locals "And the lovely ladies with me are Buffy, Amy, Faith, Kendra, Willow, Tara and ..."

At this point I stopped because I had the feeling I'd left someone behind. Then I remembered that only Slayers, potential and active, as well as the witches of my group had been able to come on this trip.

"There's normally more of us" I then said "We were staying in London for one night before moving on. Which didn't go so well".

Given my Slayer dream I suspected that the Powers That Be, creatures that existed in a higher plane, were somehow behind this meeting. Potter had visions too, maybe he'd seen Voldemort ordering his minions to go to Leaky Cauldron.

"Why were you at the pub?" I asked Potter.

He confirmed that he'd dreamt of Voldemort ordering a few of his minions to check out some people at the inn.

At this point I began coaxing the whole story out of the wizard and witches here. All about the Dark Lord and the Boy-Who-Live. It was fascinating stuff for everyone other than myself since I knew all of this already. There were only a few minor differences so not exactly useful really but worth knowing in case I ever needed the information in the future. Knowledge is power. Of course they wanted reciprocation.

"So what's your story then?" asked Harry. "You're obviously not a wizard but you still managed to stand up to those Death Eaters, and why are the rest of you Americans".

I looked at Harry Potter for a moment, while considering what I could safely tell him. The kid was an honest one, I could tell that much. He wouldn't use the information against me. But I wasn't so sure about the rest of them. Then again they didn't even know about other worlds so the risk was little.

"Well to cut a long story short we're from a different world" I told the natives "Well I'm from a different world than they are, they are from America just not the America of this world".

Kendra was from Jamaica, but mentioning that was just further confuse an already complex matter.

"In my world your life is a series of books, good ones, and some movies" I informed Harry Potter "And to prove it, one day when you were in Primary School you teleported onto the roof of your school to escape your cousin who was bullying you".

Since he might have told that story to be I thought of a few other examples.

"During a visit to the zoo you set free a snake after talking to it, you made a plane of glass just vanish" I said next "Let me think... oh you lived in a cupboard under the stairs until you got your Hogwarts letter, no idea why you didn't call social services about that, and...".

He stopped me right there.

"How!?" he asked "You can't know that!".

I let him process for a moment or two.

"The multi-verse is a vast place" I told the wand wavers "There are many dimensions out there, in some your real in others you're fictional. Deal with it".

The next to speak was Tonks.

"So Harry you brought home people from another world" she said, while smiling "What's your next trick? Going to invite Voldemort around for tea?"

The red-headed witch wasn't so amused.

"And how do we know you're telling the truth?" asked Ginny, her hand on the hilt of her wand.

I mused over what to tell her.

"Let's see your the youngest of your parent's children, the only girl, you've had a crush on Harry since you were a kid" I said, trying to think of what I knew about this rather unliked character in the books "You were possessed by a book written by Tom Riddle...".

She stopped me there and then.

"Okay I believe you!" she shouted, more annoyed than anything else.

There was silence for a while.

"Weird. So why are you in England then?" Tonks asked.

That I didn't mind sharing.

"Just a shopping trip" I answered "Magic exists where we are from, but its not as easy to use as the magic you have, so we came here to buy anything we could find that looked useful".

Also I'd needed to do my Xmas shopping.

"We were planning to finish our shopping in the morning and then leaving" I finished "We won't be back".

That soured the mood.

"Damn," said Ginny. "We could have used your help against Voldemort".

I thought about it.

"You guys know about horcruxs, those soul container things?" I asked.

Harry nodded.

"We've destroyed three, but we don't even know where to look for the others, and Voldemort is attacking more openly now that Dumbledore is gone" he informed me.

My guess was that this time line was the one that the version of Hermione Granger I'd met came from. There was no Ron here it seemed. Potter was teamed up with Tonks and Ginny instead.

"Well if the Horcruxeses, or whatever they are called, match up to the ones in the books then I know exactly where they all are and how to destroy them" I told the wand wavers "If we plan it out right I bet we could have all destroy by this time tomorrow".

I got some funny looks for saying that.

"As for Voldemort" I went on to say to Harry "You're suppose to finish him off, but there's no reason we can't help. My girls and I have some time off before Xmas and it shouldn't take more than a couple of days to defeat him".

Less if I called in help from the Citadel.

(Line Break)

 **Diagon Alley. Wizarding World.**

It didn't take two days, more like a day and a half, once I organised everyone into three groups, ensuring that someone who could create portkeys was in each group, it had been a simple task to hunt down all of Voldemort's soul jars. The hard part should have been breaking into the bank, but with Tonk's shape shifting ability she'd been able to get into the Lestrange vault without much trouble. No need for polyjuice and mind control.

The actual hard part was killing Voldemort for the third and final time, we'd lured him out of hiding with one of his soul jars, and then destroyed it as Harry had duelled the dark lord. The rest of us had dealt with the Death Eaters, ensuring they could not flee by using some sort of anti-teleportaion magic.

Buffy hadn't supported the idea of killing humans, not until I'd explained about what Death Eaters did for fun, and how about they even targeted children. After that she'd been on board, she wasn't so bound by the 'no killing humans' rule Slayers were suppose to obey these days. And it wasn't if the Watchers would ever find out, besides I'd done all the killing she'd just beaten people up.

Overall it had been too easy, in fact ending this shopping trip was proving to be more of a challenge.

"Come on we're leaving" I said to the group as we left the last of the stores I would allow them to visit "Time to go home".

There was some whining as I took out my Sliding Device.

"No debate" I told the girl "Home, now. We can come back and visit this place again once the heat has died down".

The Ministry of Magic would learn about what happened soon, and I didn't want to be around for that. So I opened a portal when no one around, and then made sure all my girls went through.

"I hate shopping" I muttered to myself as I jumped in the portal.


	17. Krampus

**Author Note**

I loved writing this chapter. Which is strange because I normally dislike writing chapters with a holiday theme.

 **Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Krampus.**

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

Despite the fact Xmas was only a day away most of my girls were busy. My witches, all three of which had found a wand suited to them, back when we visited Diagon Alley, were at the Citadel having magic lessons with some version of Hermione Granger, who taught wand magic and charged reasonably for the study course.

I approved of this for two reason, the first being the slutty uniform, based on the Hogwarts one, that all magic students at the university were required to wear when at the school. The Citadel had an informal, look all you want, just don't touch, rule when it came to other Gothic's harems. And partly it was about showing off our girls, or in some cases boys as there were both gay and female Gothics, even gay female Gothics. Albeit only a few, the vast majority of us were straight males for some reason.

The second was that when it came to magic, ignorance was not bliss, it was dangerous. The more aware you were of the possible fallout of your spells the safer it was to use magic. Plus as the girls advanced they'd be able to specialise. Amy already studied demon binding and summoning. Tara like being able to heal so I suspected she'd be drawn to creating potions.

As for Willow, I just hoped she didn't kill anyone. I still wished that she would focus more on the tech side of our organisation, but I couldn't force the issue, well perhaps I could, but I didn't want a harem made up of slaves. I wanted my girls to be happy as part of my team.

The university at the Citadel mostly taught the sciences, but while magic was not a science, it did have rules and sometimes predictable reactions. Besides they had masters of many types of magic teaching there.

Faith was actually here for a change. The arcades and other entertainments here in dear old Sunnyhell weren't open. Marcie was with her family, they remembered she existed during the holidays for some reason. Kendra had gone back to Jamaica, I'd been surprised to learn that she did have some contact with her family. I'd assumed her training had been like joining the Jedi Order, which would explain her lack of experience with boys, and her confusion about things like shoe shopping. But no every birthday and Christmas she spent time with her family. That was rather nice.

Amy and Willow would soon go to their families for quality time or whatever. Willow was Jewish, but I was sure that her people had a holiday around this time of year. I couldn't remember what it was called, but I was sure it involved gifts and candles.

"Nothing evil happens on Christmas, right?" Buffy asked as she toted in her last haul of Christmas presents. "I mean it hasn't in Sunnydale since I've been here, at least not so far. Not on the day, anyway. Is it like a Halloween thing? Where even evil takes a day off?".

Buffy was spending Xmas Eve at my place and the day at her mother's, these arrangements suited her mother as no one would be walking her up early the morning to open gifts.

Rupert Giles, her watcher, who'd found himself alone rather suddenly at Xmas, something to do with Miss Calender's clan needing approve their kid as a member of the clan, I didn't know the details and I just didn't care enough to find out, had opted to spend Xmas with us. It made sense if anything demonic did happen he'd be safer here, and being alone at this time of year was super depressing. He provided Buffy with the knowledge she desired, and provided aid with the shopping bags.

I watched as he guided her to the Christmas tree, which was a mess since about half a dozen girls had tried to decorate it at the same time, then he knelt on the floor and helped place the presents underneath the tree in an orderly manner. Which was something of a task given how madly everyone else had placed their gifts.

My Watcher had returned home for the holiday, he might loathe his father, but he loved his mother, and had gone back to England by her request.

"Not that I know of," Giles said, once the gifts were in their proper place "Odd though it may be, I think some demons practice the exchange of gifts as well. Though I imagine the contents of those gifts are drastically different from our own. At least, I hope they are".

That was giving me odd mental images. Did demons really gather in the slime pits to exchange presents?

"Oh darn," Buffy said as she smirked at her Watcher "You figured me out. I got you a heart of a virgin, I must have been shopping at the demon gift store".

I knew very well that she'd gotten him a tie pin, an expensive one, it had appeared on my credit card bill. She'd gotten him a few ties on his birthday so it made sense. Hopefully my gift involved something from Victoria's secret, that I wouldn't be the one wearing, which thanks to the actions of a certain Succubus had gotten much kinkier.

Buffy turned on the TV, plopping down onto the sofa right next to me, even going as far as to non-verbally request a foot rub. Which I started doing since I knew it was wise to keep her in a good mood. Grumpy slayers were no fun, and rather dangerous.

Faith soon joined us, squeezing onto the sofa with us. Giles settled into his armchair, he'd sort of claimed it, and then he cleared his throat.

"I-I . . . thought we might do a bit of carolling later," he suggested. "I've picked out..."

That was when the TV did one of those special news reports that interrupt the show. I'd never actually known this could really happened until I'd started living in America.

"And on this warm Christmas Eve, we want to remind everyone to take the necessary precautions this evening," the news report was saying "As we all know, this marks the third year of the Christmas disappearances. Last year on Christmas three children went missing just in California. Law enforcement agencies across the world have been, as of yet, unable to catch, or even identify any suspects. So, while you spend Christmas with your families, please just remember to keep an eye on one another, and to report any suspicious behaviour immediately to the police. Have a good night, Sunnydale, and Merry Christmas".

I swore in Welsh.

"Cachu hwch!" I said.

Roughly translated that was 'pig poo' pretty much the Welsh version of saying 'Ah shit'

If Giles understood Welsh, which was possible, he didn't react.

"So, research?" Buffy asked.

(Line Break)

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

"The reports are everywhere," I said, looking through the info provided by my computer, which was Mass Effect tech not the cave man tech they had here on Earth in 1998 "Not just in the USA either. This is going on all over the world".

I was not as skilled as Willow, or Fred, at this sort of thing, but computers had become increasing common in my world as I went from child to adult. By the time I'd left my world I could have found this information on my mobile phone.

"And the reports go back . . . for as long as someone's been reporting" I informed.

The recent killings were just the tip of a scary iceberg.

"And it's the same case each time," Buffy said "The parents wake up and find a kid missing. No signs of a struggle. No break-ins. It's as if they've vanished in thin air".

Giles feelings towards were computers were a lot like how my fellow Slayer felt towards firearms, but just because they disliked them didn't mean they saw no use in them. And they both had lightened up on those matters.

"A lot of these kidnappings" the watcher said "they happen all across the world on the same night. So it's either multiple people, or a teleporting demon".

Giles then ran to the room he was using while here, and he soon returned with a book. Which he opened to show us a page from.

"It's Krampus" he declared.

According to the book Krampus was a horned, anthropomorphic figure described as demon with goat like features, who, during the Christmas season, punishes children who have misbehaved, in contrast with Saint Nicholas, who rewards the well-behaved with gifts. Santa didn't actually leave coal in the stockings of naughty kids, that idea had come the old stories of Krampus, who in my world and this one had mostly been forgotten about. Santa simply didn't give naughty children anything. At least according to what I'd been told as a kid. Although I'd been told that by a less than reliable source.

Buffy and Faith suddenly burst out laughing, meanwhile I reached for my flask. I couldn't handle Santa being real now I had to deal with the anti-Santa. At this rate I'd turn into Dean Winchester, only cooler since I had super powers.

"I wouldn't laugh. Krampus is an ancient and powerful demon" Giles warned "In Austro-Bavarian Alpine folklore, Krampus is mentioned frequently. They write him as the nemesis of Saint Nicholas. The . . . anti-Santa, if you will. Where Santa Claus rewards well-mannered children with gifts, Krampus punishes wicked children. The origin of the tale begins here, but it has been recorded by other cultures throughout time".

He had more to tell us.

"Although Krampus appears in a few different variations, suggesting he might have shape shifting abilities of some sort, that could be how he takes the children, he pretends to be someone the family knows in order to enter the house, perhaps he even pretends be to Santa" Giles told us.

I drank some more upon hearing that. Elves, demons, monsters, dwarfs, robots, aliens, mutants, I'd encountered all these things and more, but this was a little too much.

"When in his true form he is hairy, usually brown or black, and has the cloven hooves and horns of a goat" the watcher explained "Krampus carries chains, thought to symbolise the binding of the Devil by the Christian Church. Of more pagan origins are the ruten, bundles of birch branches that Krampus carries and with which he occasionally swats children, he only kidnaps the most badly behaved. Sometimes Krampus appears with a sack or a basket strapped to his back; this is to cart off evil children for drowning, eating, or transport to Hell. Some of the older versions make mention of naughty children being put in the bag and taken away. More orthodox scholars believe this refers to the times that the Moors raided the European coasts, and as far as Iceland, to abduct the local people into slavery".

This was no longer funny to either of the girls. Buffy did not take well to kids being in danger. Neither did I, few people ever did, but it made her want to slay.

"Get to the good part, Giles," my fellow Slayer demanded "Where is he, and how do I kill him?"

"Well," Giles said while thinking hard "from what I recall he resides in his Hell dimension most of the time. Save for a few days of the year".

I took another swing from my flask. I liked eggnog.

"Lemme guess, it's not during Kwanzaa," said Faith.

"Quite" said Giles "Krampus reportedly opens a portal to this world. Though I'm not sure if it's true or not, he takes the children who have misbehaved the most and brings them to his Hell Dimension. Its believed by the Watchers that he does this to eat them and trap their souls in his Hell dimension. It grants him immortality, but only so long as he steals children. Sadly this means he can not be truly killed, however he can be banished for years at a time. He hasn't been seen by a Watcher since the 1900s".

Well that meant if banish him then I'd never have to deal with again in my life time.

"Now, to the tricky part. "Baiting him is near impossible, but there is away" Giles said.

"Someone needs to misbehave," Buffy realised

We all turned to Faith, she knew why.

"You mean like drink a bunch of alcohol, maybe hit up a strip club and graffiti someone's house?" Faith asked. "I volunteer!".

No one was amused.

"If we want to appeal to Krampus, we need to use someone who has otherwise been pure, quite well behaved for most of their life. The sudden change will interest Krampus" Giles said.

Well that was a bugger. I was an adult now, again, also I'd murdered human beings, for good reasons, but since Krampus hadn't come for me last year, it was clear he wasn't interested in me. Perhaps he simply avoided Slayers.

"We need Willow and Tara" Giles said "Out of all you Tara has the purest heart, and Willow, is well a sticker for rules. The rest of you, no offence, but your not exactly well behaved girls and boys".

My drinking from my flash reinforced this. As for Buffy she'd burned down her school in LA, granted due to vampires, but it would be hard to top that without hurting innocent people.

"How can you be sure it is Krampus?" I asked Giles "I hate to say, but there are other monsters out there that go after children. We've dealt with a few".

Giles smiled slightly. Not because he was happy, but because he was about to educate us further, he enjoyed that.

"You forget that I already told you that demons fear Santa" the watcher reminded "Krampus does not, they have battled a few times over the centuries. In fact Santa aided the Slayer in the 1900's when she banished Krampus saving Christmas".

Yeah I needed more eggnog.

(Line Break)

 **Streets. Sunnydale**

"You ready, Will?" Buffy asked her.

I couldn't believe we were doing this.

"Not really" she said "I've never so much as short changed someone's tip".

I was sitting in my car with Giles, Buffy and Willow. Tara was with Faith and Amy, doing something very bad. I suspected it involved lesbian sex, and booze.

"That's good, Willow. We need you to do wrong now," Buffy said, while patting her friend's hand. "And all we're doing is egging the house. Not robbing them or anything".

Giles, who was driving since I'd been drinking, was ready the wheel for the quick escape.

"Though burglary would likely catch Krampus's attention quite quickly," Giles murmured, before speaking more clearly "But this is a good start. Well good exactly".

The Watcher was certain that Willow and Tara could attract the anti-Santa, they weren't adults in this country, and they were both good girls. Krampus might only show up to birch them for their misdeeds, but that would be enough.

"Go on," he then urged the girls.

They opened their doors and grabbed their baskets of eggs. Willow walked after Buffy, her shoulders slumped. We watched as Willow reached into her basket, and was soon holding the egg in her hand. She hesitated for a short time, but finally, she lifted her arm and threw the egg at the house. It splattered right across a window. All of a sudden, a light turned on.

"Retreat!" Giles shouted at them. "Get back in the car!"

They bolted for the car, diving in. Just as the front door was opening, Giles stomped his foot on his car's gas petal, and we lurched forward down the road.

"Okay," Willow said as he wiped her eyes, "that was actually kind of fun. What do we do next?, steal make-up from the mall?".

That was her idea of being a naughty girl. Oh lord.

"Whoa" the red-head went on to say "Evil is powerful and seductive. No wonder Darth Vader became a bad guy".

I gritted my teeth. Vader didn't become a bad guy. Anakin Skywalker became Vader!

"Might be a good idea of me to chose the next 'evil' action" I said to Willow "Just remember we're doing this so that children won't be dragged to a hell-dimension to be eaten".

That could justify a lot. Like anal sex somewhere in public.

(Line Break)

 **Giles's House. Sunnydale.**

Buffy and I lay in wait in the kitchen, hunkered down behind the counter. Like his apartment the kitchen of Giles's new home also allowed for a clear view of living room. And in that room both Tara and Willow slept. We'd relocated here since my home was protected from demons.

We waited, and waited, and waited. Hours went by and nothing stirred, not even a mouse. But then all of a sudden there a noise on the roof. The sound of something heavy being dragged, and bells.

A scraping sound came from the fireplace. Giles, who had fallen asleep in am armchair, woke up and reached for the iron poker, I well remembered that in the show that he got attacked at home a few times, and nearly always by surprise. Perhaps becoming a father had made him more careful.

It was dark, and even with my enhanced vision I could just barely make out a set of hooves sticking out of the fireplace. I was sure Santa didn't have hooved feet, everyone knew he wore boots. Made sense, you'd hardly wear sandals while moving about on people's roofs.

"Now!" Giles shouted.

Buffy and I charged just as Krampus got out of the fireplace. He was hairy. He was a large creature. His body was rippled with muscle beneath the hair. He had wings too, his wings currently tucked in against his body. The head was large and reminiscent of a bearded goat or maybe a bull. It had large tipped horns that had obviously been the cause of the scraping sound from within the chimney.

Smoke came puffing out of his nostrils. His teeth were set in a growl, and his fangs were long and pointed. He had human like hands, both clenched chains, chains with bells attached.

Buffy and I were super fast, but Krampus was fast too, even as I moved into attack he swung his arm, and one of the chains wrapped around Willow and Tara, who were lying together on the couch, awake but not fully aware of what was happening due to confusion and darkness.

My fellow Slayer fired the crossbow she'd been holding, Giles having forbidden gunfire due to there being a chance of hitting Santa, should he come down the chimney seeking our aid against his enemy. Plus gunning him down from the kitchen would have increased the risk to everyone near the fireplace.

The bolt pierced through the Krampus' shoulder, embedding deep. Though the Krampus grunted in pain, he merely tugged the bolt out and swung his other arm towards me as I raised my sword. The chain wrapped itself around my sword, and the anti-Santa tugged, dragging my sword, and the arm holding it the ground.

Giles struck next, he chosen the iron poker, because it wasn't out of place next to a chimney, and Krampus didn't see the attack coming. It disoriented the creature and the action gave Buffy enough time to run forward and pierce the demon with a knife made of silver. Giles had told us that some demons, the older more unique ones, often had certain weaknesses, to metals like iron, silver, and even certain herbs.

The Krampus roared in agony, and only then did we see blood. Black blood, it smelled of sour milk and burnt mince pies, or at least that was what I thought about when I smelled it.

"Silver!" Buffy cried. "Silver kills it!"

The Krampus whipped his tail, which had been wrapped around his waist, against Buffy, sending her flying back into the wall, just as I took out my silver dagger. I'd read up on demons a lot and I knew that Fryal demons could be killed by silver stabbed into the heart, hence why we had the daggers, and also this knowledge told us where to strike.

Clearly, the demon was now pissed off. It focused on me, perhaps sensing I was the greater threat, and lowered its head, intending to charge. The Krampus charged after me, but I leapt over to the other side of the room. The Krampus hit the Xmas tree instead and tripped, falling to the floor.

I turned back around and leapt onto the Krampus's back. I stabbed his dagger into the Krampus's back. It didn't die so I figured I'd either missed the heart, or its heart was in a different part of its body. I didn't have time to check if I'd aimed true or not as the Krampus threw me off it.

"Come on, tall dark and horny," I heard Buffy say "You're on the list. The Slayer list".

Ignoring that bad case of punning I got up just in time to see the Krampus use his free chain to whip at Buffy. She dodged, and I threw my dagger at where the heart should be for someone who was behind the person who was suppose to get stabbed. The creature roared in agony, distracted long enough, so that Buffy could run up and shove her dagger through the Krampus' chest. Only on the wrong side, clearly she'd figured out that Krampus's anatomy, was a bit different than a humans.

The Krampus choked on blood, his body falling to the ground. Buffy jumped back as the Krampus dissolved into black ash, the chains the only things remaining of the Krampus.

"So, nothing evil ever happens on Easter, right?" Buffy asked the room.

Images of demonic humanoid bunnies entered my mind, and somehow I just knew that saying that my fellow Slayer had ensured that something evil would happened on Easter.

(Line Break)

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

Hours after kicking Krampus's backside, I found myself in the kitchen getting a glass of water, after having a nightmare about something I was already forgetting about, when suddenly my Slayer sense tingled. It was the oddest feeling, so unlike anything I'd felt before. Also I smelled mince pies and sherry.

I turned and for a few moment I just stared at Santa. It was the real deal, I could feel it, not just as the Slayer, but as a human being. I felt my heart lighten. It was a nice feeling.

"Hello young man" he said.

St Nick was shorter than I would have expected. Or maybe it was because I was an adult, and he looked exactly like Santa should. Red outfit, white beard, the hat, and he'd even left snowy footprint leading from the chimney to hear.

Just for a second I looked out of the nearest window. It was snowing, in California, during one of the warmest winters they had in a century. Also Santa was standing there right in front of me. This was odd.

"You didn't leave any mince pies out" Santa gently chided "Or a carrot for...".

My glass of water hit the floor, ending that sentence, it didn't shatter. At this point my hands had just stopped working.

"Santa?" I asked "You're real. How? Why? When?".

Giles had told me this, but now it suddenly very real.

"Oh a little help from the Powers That Be, a little magic of Christmas and the belief of children everywhere" he told me "As for the why, well in such a dark world it helps to a little cheer. The matter of when is a lot harder to answer, its been centuries I really don't know how long. At least a thousand years, although back then I was a different sort of man".

That actually made some sense to me. Huh guess the PTBs were good for something after all.

"And you're here" I managed to say.

The jolly man reached into his sack, which I hadn't spotted until now,

"Normally I don't bring gifts to someone your age" St Nick said as he brought boxes out of the bag "And you've not exactly been a good boy since you came into this world, but then you saved the world and got rid of my old nemies".

Oh right yeah that guy. We'd banished him.

"I've tried sealing that Grinch away myself" Santa informed me as he piled boxes on the counter "But you know balance, as long as I'm around there has to be an evil force to counter me. Lucky for us you've banished the Krampus for at least a few decades, and of course you stopped the Hellmouth from opening, that wouldn't have ended well".

Guess I was one of the good guys after all. Wasn't sure how I felt about that.

"Anyway these are all for you" Santa told me "I know how much you enjoyed them when you were about ten years old".

I didn't know what he meant until I examined the boxes. They were all Games Workshop products, a company that didn't exist in this world I'd checked. And when I was about ten I had collected Space Marines. Imperials not Chaos, I'd collected those later, and of course Santa wouldn't give someone Chaos Space Marines.

"Thank you" I said to the jolly man "I really do like these".

I fondly remembered gluing together my space marines and painting them Blood Angel red, because I my mate had played Space Wolves, and only a loser plays as Ultramarines. Plus when I'd been about ten I'd really wanted to be a genetically engineered super human angelic vampire, who got to fight monsters while wearing power armour and carrying a massive gun. Perhaps that was why I was happy being the Slayer because I did get to fight monsters with guns.

"Of course you do" St Nick said "I'm Santa. I know what all the boys and girls want. Although in your case it was a bit more work".

Well I had spent my childhood in another dimension, even for him that must have been tricky.

"Now I'm off to deliver more toys" Santa told me "Still a few houses to visit before I head home. I left the gifts for your friends under the tree, they'll think you got them, but its not about who gets the credit".

Santa then headed for the chimney.

"Oh and if you do ever have children living in this house please don't forget the mince pies and sherry" Father Christmas reminded "I never get them when I reach this part of the world. They always leave cookies and milk for some reason".

And with that he was gone, and I slapped myself just to check if this wasn't a dream. It hurt bad so this had to be reality. Right?

 **End.**

 **Author Note.**

One year Santa did in fact give Space Marni es for Xmas. A dreadnought if I recall correctly.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author Note**

Might be the last chapter I post for a while. I'm working on something that I think will be awesome.

 **Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 18**

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

The last two to three years of my life have been nothing short of crazy and amazing. I wouldn't trade it for the old life I had, that's for sure. Never would I have thought I'd be living like this.

I had a family of sorts, wealth, power, a home. I had everything I could want out of life, and so much more. The multi-verse was open to me, I was the single most powerful man in Sunnydale. I was the Slayer.

Looking at the bedside clock I saw that it was early in the morning, New Years Eve, and the girls were still sound asleep. My keen Slayer hearing would have picked up any noise if anyone was moving around.

Taking advantage of this peacefulness I went to into the master bedroom's en suite bathroom. It was suppose to be mine alone, but as anyone who lived with a group of young women soon discovered you had never had enough bathrooms. As such it was a rare thing for me to be able to take a long hot shower without being bothered. Sure most of the time only a few of my girls actually lived here, however in the morning there was always such a demand.

When I had dried off I re-entered the bedroom to find that my fellow Slayer was starting to wake up. Since she was the alpha female of the group, she tended to take up a lot of my attention, as was her right. I was certain that while the issue had never been discussed that Buffy taking the role of alpha female had prevented a lot of fights within my harem.

The other girls accepted their place in the order of things without too much complainant. It helped that I made an effort to spend time with them even if it rarely just myself and one girl.

"Mmm," Buffy sighed.

I got back into bed and soon she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me closer to her.

"Morning" she said.

"Morning" I replied.

She delivered a soft, sweet kiss to my lips, and then a firmer one. Her way of letting me know she wanted attention. With this in mind I moved my hand under the sheet dipped my fingers into the waistband of her cotton pyjama bottoms. Not a sexy thing for her to wear to bed, but that didn't stop me from seeking some fun.

Buffy moaned as I slide my hand into her panties and rubbed my fingers over her pussy slowly, feeling her grow wetter with every stroke my fingers made.

"I can't wait for tonight," Buffy whispered as I pulled back from kissing her and slide finger inside her waiting cunt. "I can't believe we're going to New York".

While this was a pre 9/11 world it was still a nightmare to deal with the airports at this time of year. So we weren't going to use them in our trip to New York, we would portal out of Sunnydale, arrivie in another world, and then portal back to this Earth within New York, just in time to for the midnight countdown.

Fred, who had used the portals to visit her parents, had already mapped out a few hot spots within New York for us to use. We used portals when visiting LA, but there was a lot of supernatural acitivy there. I didn't know if New York was like that so it might be risky to use a portals.

On New Years, with the streets packed with people who'd been partying, this would be less of a concern, people would rationalise anything they saw as a New Years stunt, and even if anyone did investigate finding evidence it such massive crowds would be next to impossible.

Then we would take advantage of time zones to return here to Sunnydale and celebrate New Years twice in one night. I had considered stopping in other parts of the country so we could celebrate a few times, by I figured the novelty would wear before long. Plus we might experience the portal version of jet lag.

Also by taking advantage of the existence of time zones I could celebrate New Year's with my harem without taking them away from their families. Fred was using this as well, after we left New York, she would return to Texas until it was near midnight in California.

Buffy smiled happily and she moaned against as I slid a second finger inside her. This led to me putting more strength behind my fingers as I thrusted them in and out of her, starting up an easy rhythm that should have her hitting orgasm before long.

Well that would have been the case if not for her suddenly shoving her hands into my pyjama shorts, she started rubbing my cock so good that I forgot to keep fingering her. For reasons she couldn't explain she took perverse delight in trying to make me cum as quickly as she could. I suspected it was because sex gave her some power over me, she was physically weaker than me, but she had the fine muscle control a Slayer required. This was what prevented us from ripping doors off their hinges unless we wanted to. Buffy had very good control of exactly how much force she used when performing an action, as my dick was now being reminded.

Buffy pulled her hands out of my shorts as we both heard something

"Shit," I groaned as I hear ed the soft footsteps coming down the hallway. "Isn't it too early".

I suppose to be spending quality time with my girls today, and Giles was coming over, so that meant no hanky panky today, tonight would be a different issue.

"It's after nine" Buffy reminded me.

This was very early for me as I tended to be up late as I handled night patrol when Buffy tended to take evenings so as not to worry her mother. However things had changed recently, we also patrolled together now, often with backup, so my sleep cycle was changing.

"You want me to take the other girls downstairs and..."

Whatever Buffy would have suggested I never found out as Faith burst into the room.

"It's the last day of the year!" the potential Slayer needlessly reminded us while pumping her fists up into the air. "I am so excited!"

For once she was actually dressed while at home. She normal hung out in a tank top and panties. Not that I minded, and even she was taking the idea of spending quality time without sex seriously. That hadn't been my idea.

"She wasn't even this excited on Christmas," I heard Buffy remark.

I disappeared into the bathroom to quickly brush my teeth and I run the comb through my hair. After that I looked into the mirror and realised that this is my life now and I wouldn't change a bit of it for the world.

"You hungry, Faith?" I asked as I grabbed a sweatshirt,

The house a little cold this morning. Even in California there were days you needed the heating on.

(Line Break)

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

"What do you girls want for breakfast?" I enquired.

Even with four girls in the house today, Buffy, Faith, Tara and Marcie, I was still doing the cooking. That didn't seem right somehow. However Buffy couldn't cook, and Faith was nearly as bad, Tara having been used as slave labour by the men in her family still wasn't comfortable serving me meals and such, as for Marcie, she hadn't even gotten out of bed.

Perhaps when Kendra returned, and I had made arrangements with her Watcher for her to move in (I was sure I could convince him) she might do the cooking. She was more submissive towards men than my other girls, a product of being raised by a Watcher, and I would reward her hard work. A generous allowance and a few trips to somewhere exotic.

"It's pancakes, that we want" Faith, ever the straightforward one "Pan-cakes. Repeat after me. Pancakes".

Despite having lived in the USA for nearly three years, not counting time spent in other realities, I still failed to understand why pancakes so well loved in North America. Back home we had pancake day, which happens just before lent. I remembered well my mother making pancakes on that day, and rarely if ever at other times of the year. Also my mother made them for dinner on that day after school. As such eating pancakes for breakfast so often seemed wrong to me.

Much like having fireworks in the summer rather than in November, and that whole Thanksgiving still seemed like a nightmare to me. Although to be fair that might have a lot to do with me nearly bursting my stomach open.

However this didn't mean that I wasn't an expert pancake maker. I pull out a carton of eggs, some bacon, for my breakfast, and then got the pancake mix out of the cupboard.

I put the bacon on and glanced over at the girls. They were mixing together, it was rather cute. Less so when Buffy came down, as she could burn cornflakes.

"Thought you were gonna sleep in a little longer?" I asked her.

We'd patrolled late last night, since we were taking tonight off, and perhaps tomorrow night too.

"I wanted to, but then all I could smell was what you were cooking and not to mention, coffee" she replied.

Someone had switched on the coffee maker so I poured Buffy a cup in the hopes that she would focus on it and not attempt to join in the group effort that pancake making had become.

Before long Faith had stacked her pancakes five high on her plate and was drenching them in syrup. Again this was odd to me, syrup on pancakes, I use to put lemon juice and sugar on mine. Here they had all kinds of goo for pancakes.

Once we had breakfast I cleaned up while the girls went upstairs to get dressed. I rinsed the plates off, before placing them in the dishwasher. Then I put the leftovers in containers and stash them away in the fridge. While I wealthy enough to feed an army I disliked wasting food, when I did I often thought about those who never had enough to eat. Besides having leftovers was handy as patrol often made me hungry.

When the doorbell rang I knew who it was. I'd been expecting him.

"Good morning Giles" I said as I opened the front door.

Even during the day it was no wise to issue a verbal invite into your home. Not when you lived in Sunnydale. Sure my house was protected from demons, but it was good habit to get into.

"Good morning, Damien" he greeted "Not too early, is it?".

The Watcher had been away for a couple of days. Something to do with the Clan Miss Calender was a part of. I imagined that Angel leaving Sunnydale sooner than in the show's time line had shaked things up Miss Calender, I wasn't sure what her people were doing about the vampire with a soul. Also her having a baby with a Watcher must be causing issues.

Giles was a private person in some respects. His personal life wasn't something he wanted to discuss, but I made a mental note to check in with him once school had started up again. I just wanted to make sure the Gypsy clan wouldn't be causing us problems. This was best discussed between the two of us.

"Nah, we've all been up a while" I told him "Just finished breakfast in fact. How was your flight?"

"Heinous," he replied as he followed me into the kitchen "I could use a spot of tea after enduring a flight like that. I had two little spawns of the devil sat behind me, one of them was kicking my seat the entire way from LA to Sunnydale".

I put the kettle on and grab a few mugs out of the cupboard and grab the ceramic jar we keep the tea in. Well it was mine really, no one in this house other than myself drank tea.

Really he should have used a portal, but we didn't even known where Miss Calender's people were as such there might not be any hot spots in that area.

"How have you, Buffy and the girls been?" Giles enquired as I made us both some tea.

"Great," I said with a smile "Better than ever I'd say".

No one had been kidnapped for a while. The only demon I'd had to deal with since Krampus had been the inner demon that was my growing drinking habit. Thankfully I seemed to have that under control. I'd not touched a drop of booze since Christmas day.

"Damien?" Buffy calls out from upstairs. "Who are you talking to?"

"Come down and find out" I yelled back.

She soon came down, and was happy to see her Watcher. She most likely had been worried about him going off to parts unknown all by himself.

"Will you two be Joyce's party tonight?" Giles asked us Slayer "I do trust it will not be as wild and out of control as Christmas was".

Yes hopefully no demons would bother us. Not that it had been wild or out of control. We'd handled the situation rather well in my view.

"You never know," I said "Buffy and I won't be there until after ten. We're going to portal to New York for the countdown in Times Square and then portal back".

Misses Summers had invited to me her New Year's gig at Buffy's House. As her boyfriend I had to attend. Then later I'd be fucking someone who was willing to spread their legs. What fun.

(Line Break)

 **Art Gallery. Sunnydale.**

As I got out of my car I took a moment to admire my reflection in the tinted window, I had to admit that the suit I was wearing had been a good investment. I looked very good, very smart, almost like a real businessman.

Which in a way I was. Granted I didn't run CRD, but I did own it, and now that the company was making a major profit my demon account, who was one of those rare examples of a demon who wasn't at all evil, aside from how much he charged for his services, had advised that I invested some of my money in other enterprises.

One of those investments was a surprise for my girls, one they'd greatly enjoy, but I was also planning to help out Buffy in a less direct way. Her mother ran the art gallery that I was currently walking into, and from what I'd overheard it wasn't making much money these days. I intended to fix that.

Also while I was here I wanted to ensure that there were no more cursed objects here, like that zombie making mask. Giles had promised to check, however he'd been distracted recently due to his partner's clan. He didn't want me involved in that matter, and I respected that, but at least I could ease one of his other burdens for a while.

"Mrs Summers" I greeted when Buffy's Mom had noticed me.

She was surprised to see me, as she should be as I'd never been inside this building before today.

"Damien can I help you?" she asked "Is everything okay?".

I took off my sunglasses and smiled, to let her know that I wasn't here with bad news.

"This is a business matter" I told the lady "CRD is becoming well known and I was hoping to find a few objects here to decorate the place with. Some tasteful pieces, small statues, maybe some landscape paintings for the offices".

I didn't know much about art, however Mrs Summers did, and before long she was showing me some exhibits.

(Line Break)

 **The Bronze. Sunnydale.**

I stepped back and admired my handiwork for a moment before covering the symbol I had painted onto the wall with a piece of modern art I'd gotten from Mrs Summers's art gallery. I didn't like the painting, and that hardly mattered since its purpose was to cover up part of the demon proofing I'd put up to protect the Bronze.

Now that this place was mine, a gift for my harem, I wanted to make sure that no more vamps would come here looking for a snack. The wards would only protect people on the inside of the building, meaning teenagers could still be grabbed in the alleyways outside, but some protection was better than none, and there weren't as many vamps in Sunnydale as they used to be. I'd even collapsed a few of the sewer tunnels to make it harder for them reinfect the town.

On the subject of infestation I'd even hired a few warding experts from the Citadel, they'd crafted spells on the outside of the building that would keep away all lower forms of life, such as bugs, rats, raccoons, and stray pets, basically anything the health inspector would object too.

"Is everything ready ladies?" I asked.

Then I'd gone a step further. I'd hired The Transunding Furies a trio of mystical women living in Los Angeles. They made demon violence impossible within the club owned by a sort of demon ally of mine called Lorne. They were here today to ensure that the different means of magical protection, which was their field of expertise, didn't interfere with each other.

"You may"

"Cast the spell"

"Now"

Each of the women had spoken in turn, but I had no trouble understanding them. As for the spell, it might seem odd to use magic to make demon violence impossible within the club when it was already demon proof, but any defence could be torn down.

"Okay here it goes" I said.

Then I performed the spell.

"Violence restrained, demons disarmed. For mortals within these walls, no harm. Protection and safety this charm doth endow to make this shelter a sanctuary now"

Something happened. I just wasn't sure what, and I had no time to check with the Furies as this when the members of my harem arrived.

"Oh you're early" I said "I haven't set up the snacks".

Even Slayer could only do so much so fast.

"Damien what's going on?" asked Buffy "Why did you want us to met here, and who are the floating women?".

I decided to answer the last question first.

"They are The Transunding Furies" I explained "They're experts in protection spells, they came here to help me ward up the Bronze. Apparently they know Angel".

"Mmmmm. Angel" the Furies said in unison.

I ignored that.

"They helped me cast a spell that should prevent any supernatural creature from harming anyone when inside the Bronze" I told my harem "So who wants to slap me to make sure it doesn't...".

Willow slapped me before I could finish. Nothing happened to her so I now knew that spell didn't effect witches. Good to know, not good that my fact hurt.

"Now I need Buffy too..."

Again I was slapped before I could finish, this time time however I wasn't hit as Buffy ended up on her back.

"To strike me gently" I then said "Why does no one ever listen to me".

The spell worked by sending the full force of a blow back at the person who was trying to attack someone, so if she'd only struck gently she wouldn't have ended up on the floor.

"The spell works"

"Our work is finished"

"Time for our payment"

The furies hadn't just stood around, or well floated around, they'd ensured that the wards all worked well together, and I had been unable to cast the spell, they would have done it for me.

"Here you go ladies" I said while passing one of them a small bag of Mareth gems.

"Ohhhh. Shiny" the Furies said in unison.

Apparently it didn't take much to impress them, although their deporting away was impressive. I'd have to learn to do that one of these days.

"So what is going on?" Amy asked.

Faith also had a question.

"Do I get to slap anyone?"

We'd could test the effectiveness of the protection magic on potential Slayers later on.

"Well I was hoping to have the snacks out before you got here" I said to my girls "I wanted to party to celebrate the new present I got you all".

I then gestured at the club all around me, but they all seemed a little perplexed.

"The Bronze I brought it" I informed the group "For you girls, I have someone to run it, but its yours to hang out in, you get free drinks, you don't have to pay the cover charge, it will be fun".

They didn't seem to be as pleased about this as I would have liked.

"You can also bar people" I told them "And if you want a party you can close the club and just invite friends over. I don't care if it doesn't make a profit".

I had more than enough income, and my demonic account was very good at making sure no one from the tax office came round asking questions. Which was handy when you were something supernatural.

"So you own the Bronze, we get stuff for free, and we can a have a party here when ever we want" Buffy summarised "That is just so cool!".

Suddenly I was getting hugs from all sides, which was totally the reaction I'd been looking forward too.

(Line Break)

The Bronze. Sunnydale.

Amy snuggled closer to the masculine arm that went between her breasts. She could hardly believe what had happened to put her into such a wonderful, if slightly disconcerting, position which was on the floor of the nightclub known as the Bronze. Thankfully it wasn't cold or rough as a sort of bed had been made from cushions and clothes.

Last night had been wonderful, oh sure there had been some pain, that was hard to avoid when getting fucked by a Slayer, but there had also been the kind of pleasure that she knew would be difficult if not impossible to achieve with any other male lover. Although never having had sex with any guy other than Damien she could only guess at this.

Of course she'd had to share her boyfriend and the pleasures he gave her, with rest of the harem, well not the entire harem, the newest member, Kendra wouldn't return to Sunnydale until later today.

Some of last night was a blur, but Amy was pretty sure that Damien had done each of them twice, in under four hours. Due to the many orgasms she'd had, it had seemed much longer than that because time rather meaningless when she was getting a good fucking.

Amy couldn't understand how exactly this was possible, right up until she remembered those special energy drinks she'd picked up at the Citadel, which were used by Gothics with large harems. They weren't just energy drinks, they were sexual enhancers, only the drink didn't contain drugs, more like magical potions. Still that only should have allowed Damien to cum inside each of them once.

Then she remembered Tara's use of a white magic sex spell from Mareth, that must have been more effective than the young witch had expected as they'd never had any orgy like this before. Perhaps raiding the bar hadn't been such a good idea after all.

Damien never took more than two of his girls to bed, partly because even a big bed had limited room, but because he had the limits of a mortal man despite the upgrades, and also because none of his girls were really into the orgy thing, even if threesome were fine.

Amy had originally wanted to be first, as she'd been Damien's girlfriend for longer than the others, having once been a normal couple, well as normal as a witch and slayer going to school on the Hellmouth could be.

However, when it came time for one of them to get into position, she had hesitated because everyone had been watching. This allowed Willow, who'd been getting bolder ever since joining the harem, to get first go. Amy had been at first a bit miffed at this, but she'd enjoyed the show.

She was not disappointed with what she saw. The male Slayer had brought Willow to orgasm before even entering her. He did the same to Amy and to others when it was their turns.

Many of the girls even went down on each other, as well as using their hands, lips, and tongues to stimulate the breasts of who ever Damien was fucking.

After fondly remembering all of that, and partly remembering some other stuff she couldn't quite be sure actually happened she realised that she lying naked in a pile of naked people, had dried cum between her legs, and that was she late for school.

"SHIT!" she swore loud enough to wake everyone else up.


	19. Chapter 19

**Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Part 19**

 **Sunnyvale. Alternate Earth.**

It had been some time since I'd taken one of my girls out to explore another reality, but today that was what we were doing. Fred and I had taken the shuttle, which we'd gotten from the Mass Effect verse some time ago, and we'd flown through a portal to another version of Sunnydale.

Fred had found this reality a while back, and she'd used Ted, a human looking robot who in the original time line would have romanced Joyce Summers, to scout out this world. Sending him was always best as Ted didn't need to breathe, and could survive extremes a human being couldn't.

Near as she could tell it was a version of Sunnydale called Sunnyvale, which had no supernatural creatures within it, at least as far as we knew. When Ted had scouted this place the only large life signs in the town, that could be picked up with our equipment, had been human.

Which didn't make any sense to me as Mayor Wilkins, who'd I arranged to be sent far away, had founded a town in this part of the state because of the hellmouth, yet there were no demons in Sunnyvale or a hellmouth as far as we could tell.

While the shuttle had warding magic to keep it from being seen with cameras or even on radar, it could be seen with the naked eye so we'd come here at night so as to decrease the chances of us being spotted by the locals.

Our thinking was that we could fly around and maybe land so we could check the place out. There was no real reason to, it had just seemed like fun to explore an alternate version of a town were so familiar with.

It turned out not to be fun because after landing near the town, we'd opened up a portal far from the settlement so no one could see it, I heard gunfire and saw the flashes of light. Which indicated that some sort of firefight was going on. The shuttle's scanners hadn't known what to make of it.

We could have taken the shuttle to check this out, but it was visible to the naked guy and I didn't want it to get shot down. I'd lost an entire frigate and I didn't want to have replace the shuttle as well. I couldn't really afford to.

For most people a fire fight of any kind, never mind one that included energy weapons of some kind, would be a cue to turn right around and head on back to where they came from, but not me. I wasn't going to cower. I wanted to see what the hell was going on here.

As I got closer to the fighting, I saw something that made me reach for my sword and my pistol. Those were definitely energy weapons I'd seen, someone with advanced weapons was trading fire with people who had normal guns. Which was very unfair in my opinion.

Going into a warzone on my own wasn't my exactly idea of fun, but I really wanted to know who was doing all that shooting. Besides Fred would be safe in the shuttle. I was just going to do a little scouting and then I'd join her.

As far as I could tell the energy weapon users seemed to be winning. The gunfire was trailing off and the sounds of terrified, agonised screaming, coming from both male and female mouths, was something I could now hear now I was within the town.

I passed a half-destroyed 'Welcome to Sunnyvale' sign and the buildings around me looked like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie or game. Whatever wasn't riddled with bullet-holes was scorched by energy weapons fire or was just on fire. The flames of the burned-out cars and buildings that lined the streets were the only sources of light around here.

Which was partly good because it meant I could not see too many of the human bodies scattered all over the place. Not that all of them were humans bodies.

I could see some sort of alien cyborgs, they must have been using the energy weapons. I guessed this based on the broken devices next to their bodies. Which I of course looted by putting them into my bag of holding. My geeky girls could study them later.

Then my Slayer sense let me know that something not human was close by and that it was getting closer. This feeling gave me the split-second warning I required to move before a creature lunged out of the darkness, as it attempted to grab me. Had I not moved so fast it would have gotten its claw on me.

I killed it with a sweep of my magical sword Cutter, driving the enchanted blade into the body of the monster. Killing it was a messy affair, and even as I ended the creature it struggled with an intense strength I'd never felt before.

Then I took a moment to examine the life form that I had just transformed into a corpse. It was not at all human, but it didn't look like it was the technology using type, which made me wonder if the cyborg aliens and humans were working together, or if these creatures were like alien attack dogs.

As for the creature, it had four legs and it was more insect like than anything else. To my Slayer senses it was a threat, but not demonic. Alien maybe, some sort of weird lab experiment perhaps?

"I think this town is under attack by aliens" I told Fred over my comm device as I scanned the alien with my omni-tool "I'm going to see if I can grab some more samples of their tech before I head back to the shuttle".

As Winifred replied I didn't hear a thing as I felt something approaching me. Thanks to my slayer I knew I was in danger, and I looked up from the body I'd been examining I saw the threat.

A tall, blonde-haired man was currently shuffling towards me with, and he a vacant look in his eyes. Shock, perhaps? But he was the threat I'd sensed.

"Hey," I called "You okay?"

More people, who I assumed were the locals, stepped out of the shadows and soon there four of them, and they were all shuffling towards me, and they all had a vacant look in their eyes.

"Zombies! I shouted in surprise

In my left hand I carried an alien blaster pistol, which I'd looted from an alien mother ship during that hunting trip to the Fallout universe I'd taken with Predator Gothic.

I was about to open fire with that weapon, when the zombies stopped moving, and they began to have what I could only describe as fits. Their bodies contorted horribly as they thrashed around on the floor.

Very soon the zombies stopped writhing and their bodies split open, and as another life form came out of them like the zombies had been cocoons of some sort. I also noted that they were the same in appearance as the creature I'd killed before.

"Oh fuck" I swore.

Thankfully the newly made monsters needed a moment before they could move about and this gave me ample time to vapourise them with my gun, which really did look as if it came from the set of a cheaply made science fiction movie.

"Fred fire up the shuttle" I ordered over the radio "We're getting the hell out of here".

(Line Break)

CRD Building. Sunnydale.

Not long after fleeing that freaky other reality Fred and I had returned to the computer company that served as cover for our real operations, at least in part, it was a real company.

"Zombies" Fred muttered "Aliens!".

Those were things I'd seen in that alternate version of Sunnydale, and since we weren't morons, we'd never be going to that reality ever again. Our Slider devices wouldn't even allow us to open a portal to that world.

At least we had the broken weapon I'd picked up for Fred to study, and while I'd scanned an alien I didn't know if the information would ever be valuable.

"Exam results!" she then yelled.

I'd not encounter exams in that weird alternate world.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

While I placing the alien tech I'd looted carefully on a work beach so it could be studied. Fred was typing away at a computer.

"I went online and found your exam results" Winifred told me.

This surprised me.

"I didn't think they posted exam results online in this day and age" I said.

Fred shook her head.

"They don't" she told me "I hacked them".

Well she was using computer centuries ahead of what the locals had.

"You passed everything" I was now being informed "You didn't do as well with math as I would have liked, but you make up for that with a really high score in history".

I went over and checked.

"UC Sunnydale here I come" I said.

Fred sighed.

"You didn't finish high school, but with scores like these and a donation you could go to a much better college than UC Sunnydale" she said "Maybe somewhere like Northwestern".

I didn't really care.

"That's in Chicago" Fred then added.

I shook my head.

"Everyone other than Faith is going to UC Sunnydale" I told her "And as planned I'll take physics so you can tutor me. While naked".

Fred gave me a funny look upon hearing that.

"Speaking of naked I did promise you a big reward if you passed" she reminded me "So what will be. Want me to dress up, or should we take the shuttle out and do on the moon".

I could have sworn I'd heard that wrong.

"The moon?" I asked.

Fred smiled.

"The shuttle's got the range" she said "And its one sixth gravity there, could be fun. We'd have to stay inside the shuttle, but we can turn off the artificial gravity".

Oh we were so doing that.

(Line Break)

The Magic Box. Sunnydale.

I looked around the store and smiled in approval. The business wasn't quite like how I remembered it from the show, but I could have a few things moved around to make them more to my liking.

"Are you sure about this Mr Mason?" I was asked.

Sam Zabuto, Kendra's watcher had come along with me since he'd be the one running this business for me should all go to plan. I needed something to do and owning this place would expand my influence as well as hopefully make a profit.

"I'm sure" I replied "You and Kendra will need jobs if you're going to stay in this country. And you'll not only have a place to carry on with your studies but you'll also get access to anything my group plans to sell here. You'll be able to study and catalogue everything before it goes on the shelves, and anything you deem too dangerous or want to keep for yourself you can store in the basement".

Zabuto looked around.

"It would be good for Kendra to have some work to do" he said "And we can keep an eye on who buys what magical supplies in this town allowing us to know who is up to mischief with black magic and who a harmless dabbler".

Most witches were harmless, they were into incense sticks, crystals and wind chimes, even those with some actual power were more into feel good vibes than really doing magic. Of course they wanted protection spells on their homes and such.

Then there were the demon worshippers and black magic users, it would be a good idea to see what they were buying. If we refused to sell them the stuff they'd go just elsewhere.

"I can have some my girls work shifts here at the weekend" I was now telling the Watcher "They'll want to make a little extra money before going to college and a part time job will look good on their records".

My deal with my girls required me to support them through their years at college in exchange for them basically being my sex slaves, but this deal wouldn't last forever.

I'd made arrangements for them to provided for should something happen to me, and given the short, bloody lives of Slayers it was likely it would, but one day they might need proper jobs. I had to prepare them for that.

"Get me enough help, then Kendra can work here and go to college" the watcher said "I'm sure you can arrange that".

A student going to university aboard wasn't so odd. If nothing else I could make a sizable donation to UC Sunnydale, that would certainly ease through Kendra's application, and I could keep her close to me when we all went to college.

(Line Break)

Streets. Sunnydale.

My magical blade flashed the air and the now headless vampire crumbled into a cloud of dust as the magical blade Cutter did its work. The box the vamp had been carrying had contents which smashed upon meeting the ground, and this drew some attention from the other vampire. The one in the back of the truck which had just crashed.

Buffy and I were not here because of the truck. We'd been tracking the vampires using the scanner set up we had in basement of my house. We liked to slay all the vampires we could as it looked good on our reports to the Watcher's Council, plus we were saving lives.

I was also interested in the truck, because it didn't look like it belong to any sort of company, it looked military.

"Oh, hell" said the vampire who'd just gotten out of the back of the truck was looking at Buffy and I "Let me guess you're the Slayers".

I nodded.

"Damn it" the undead thing said next "I told Frank that Slayers are real, but he didn't believe me".

I could tell this leech was going to make a run for it.

"Buffy try the knife" I suggested.

My fellow Slayer moved forward and stabbed the vampire, who'd been trying to get away. The knife she'd used was a demon-killing knife, which had been created by Planeswalker Gothic, it was based on the demon-killing knife in Supernatural. Only this dagger had a handle made of weirwood, which vampires couldn't touch due it being somewhat holy.

The vampire Buffy stabbed didn't just dust, it kind of exploded, covering everything in very fine layer of ash. Once I'd finished blinking and clearing my field of vision. I concluded that the demon which had animated that corpse, had been destroyed rather than simply banished.

"Okay that works" I said to Buffy "We'll have to buy more of those".

With the vamps now gone I decided to inspect the crime scene so to speak. Peering into the cab I winced as I caught sight of a body. Whoever he had been in life he'd been a big fellow. Seeing the holes in the side of the heavily muscled neck I checked the mouth and was relieved to find no blood. His head was also bleeding, he must have either been knocked out or killed during the crash before being fed upon.

At least the guy wouldn't join the ranks of the undead. As for the rest of the cab, it was a wreck. There were bits of glass and pieces of plastic were everywhere, the windscreen had shattered and only the radio looked intact, but it also seemed that someone had tried to steal it. The vampires no doubt. I didn't this had been planned, they just come across the crash and had taken advantage of it.

"This looks important" said Buffy.

She was holding a clipboard and I started looking it over. I didn't understand most of what was written, but it was clear to me that government was moving some important stuff. Most likely this truck had some from the docks and was heading to the army base that was just outside of town.

Possibly this had something to do with the Initiative, they were active by season four so it made sense that they'd have everything in place well in advance.

If I were them I'd have my first patrols out by summer when there were less monsters about so that the teams had some experience by the time monsters become more frequent around here. Of course I was leading the initiative, so I couldn't say for certain what they'd do.

When I got into the back of the truck it became clear that the vampires had rummaged around thoroughly and the crash hadn't helped matters.

Still I knew what I was looking at. Guns, computer parts and centrifuges. Which was an odd combination on the surface but I knew that the the initiative was basically a military research place.

They wanted to weaponise demons if I remembered correctly, which was had led to Adam. That was something I wouldn't allow. I'd have to kill Maggie Walsh, who was due to be a professor at the local college. It would be best to do it soon, before I was ever at the college.

There was nothing in the truck that I wanted. Since I had access to way better stuff than this so I decided to get going. The military would show up soon, but I'd best call this in just in case.

"Hello? Anybody there? I said into the truck's radio".

There was a pause.

 _"This is an official frequency, please get off the air now"_

"I'd love to," I replied "But I'm speaking from a wrecked cab with a dead driver next to me. I'm guessing this is military".

There was a confused noise from the speaker and then a new, much younger, voice spoke up. I figured that this was Riley Finn, it sounded right, and this also meant he was also in Sunnydale, how interesting.

Perhaps with the Mayor gone The Initiative would start sooner than expected. If so I was going to have to be careful. I might even had to abandon Sunnydale so the government didn't find out about me, and try to take all my cool stuff.

That would suck given everyone's plans for college, but I didn't want to end up in a lab somewhere while some people in lab coats tried to figure out how my Slayer powers worked by cutting me open.

 _"Who is this? What happened to the driver?"_ Riley asked.

"Vampires," I replied.

Then Buffy and I quickly left. We didn't want to be here when the agents arrived, they'd have questions. And I didn't want to answer any.

(Line Break)

Library. Sunnydale High.

"It was carrying everything you'd need in a military base" I told my Watcher "Guns, ammo, scientific equipment that of thing".

The Watcher nodded sombrely.

"Troubling indeed" Wes said as he passed me a newspaper "As is this".

The paper declared that Wolfram and Hart would be opening an office here in Sunnydale before the end of the year.

"Bloody hell" I muttered.

Wes also seemed bothered by this news.

"I have no idea what we can do about this, or a military base, other than to dial down our own activities" he said "Perhaps we should leave Sunnydale".

It might not be such a bad idea to move to LA. If I remembered correctly the only real threat the world during the next season aside from Adam was three demons who throw themselves into the Hellmouth, and for that to work they needed a little thing called the Word of Valus, which I'd secured a while back. I'd take it to the Citadel and have it locked up soon.

In season 5 Glory would look for Dawn, but assuming she came into existence in this time line I could just move her to the Citadel too.

Warren his friends were already dead and since I wouldn't let anyone Buffy back to life if she died the First Evil wasn't a threat. There were bound to be some threats, but if I got rid of Maggie Walsh a sane leader of The Initiative should be able to keep this town safe.

As for Wolfram and Hart, they were in every major city so unless we moved to another small town we'd end up tangling with them. It might be best to go join up with Angel in LA so that Wolfram and Hart would have to deal with a united enemy. Given Angel's role in the End of Days the Senior Partners didn't want him dead and therefore might not come after us the rest of us directly for fear of killing him.

"That was my thinking too" I said to Wes "We could uproot and move to LA. Fred went to the California Physics Institute there, after going to UCLA, maybe she'd like to go back".

I'd have to look into UCLA as well.

"Damien" Wes suddenly said "Can I ask how well you know Miss Chase?".

Oh right. He gets a weird sort of crush on her in season 3. I'd totally forgotten about that. I'd also been the impression that Wes was seeing someone, perhaps it hadn't worked out.

"I don't know her that well" I said "I find her a bit shallow, but she's never done anything to make me dislike her".

Because I was rich and powerful. Cordy was superficial but she wasn't stupid, she knew that annoying me would be a bad idea.

"I have, well, the greatest admiration and respect for her, but I, um, have noticed something wrong with her in recent weeks. She seems to be somewhat irritable and short-tempered" Wes told me.

Wasn't she always like that.

"More short-tempered and irritable than normal, you mean?" I asked

Hold on, wasn't this this around the time she losses all her money because of her father not paying taxes.

"I don't know if anything is wrong with her" I told Wes "I could find out for you".

He stuttered something that I decided meant 'yes please'.

"Oh, um, will she, will she be at the Prom?" my watcher then asked.

That made me laugh.

"Wesley she's the social queen of the school" I told him as if it was an answer, which it was "She'll be there".

That seemed to make my Watcher happy.

"Oh good! I mean, I'll look forwards to seeing you there when it takes place. Which reminds me, I must dust off my dinner jacket".

Hopefully he'd enjoy it.

"I haven't decided if I'm going yet" I told my Watcher "I've never been one for dances".

Somehow I didn't think I'd have a choice in the matter. My girls would drag me along. Which meant I'd have to get a tux. Damn it.

Author Note.

If I ever get around to writing Slayer Gothic 4 it will be set in LA. As Sunnydale is looking rather crowed now, and they've out grown it really. Plus Slayer Gothic could go international and visit more realities from LA. While have a techology firm as cover. Could be fun.


	20. Chapter 20

**Slayer Gothic 3**

 **Chapter 20**

 **Warrior Lodge. The Realm of Gothics**

While I'd visited this realm many times I'd never given much thought to what there was outside of the domes that made up the Citadel. Sure I'd seen this world from orbit, but I'd until now I'd not explored any of what was within the vast wilderness outside of the Citadel. And perhaps I would have remained ignorant for much longer if not for an invitation.

I'd been invited to tour a special club, for lack of a better term. One that was outside of the Citadel, in a physical sense at least. How different it actually was in a cultural sense was something I intended to find out.

Normally I'd bring one of my girls with me, as it was good to have back up and it was part of life within the Citadel to have some eye candy with you when possible. However the invite had stated that it was for one. Not that I suspected a trap, but I wasn't here unarmed.

The warrior lodge at first glance reminded me of a Viking Longhouse or maybe ye olde Mead Hall, it was a big building tall, narrow and long. It was built of some type of timber and looked somewhat new, which made sense since the club was new. I didn't know who had built or why, however I would soon find out.

Even from the outside I could smell the meat that must cooking somewhere within. I also picked up the scent of wood burning and something else I wasn't able to identify, my sense of smell didn't match that of a vampire, and many demons, but for human it was pretty impressive.

The downside to this was when the door opened I overwhelmed for a moment by all the scents. My hearing was far better than a normal humans, however the noise level here was more than reasonable. All the sights took a moment to process, for that I needed to stop. Thankfully I had time to adjust, and once my senses were under control, I took everything in.

The inside reminded me of Jorrvaskr, the mead hall of the companions, which could be found in Whiterun, which was part of Skyrim. Not that I'd ever really seen that place, but I'd played the game enough to recognise that someone had tried to recreate Jorrvaskr.

They'd done a good job. There was a long and sturdy looking table. Clearing meant for feasting that seemed to take up about a third of the room, due to its sheer size. It was bare right now, and no one sat at it. I could also tell that either the table was new or extremely well cared for.

The next really big noticeable feature was a fire pit, which was used for cooking, or at least being used to keep already cooked meat at a temperature high enough that the smell filled the air and made my mouth water. I detected the scent of pork, lamb, beef, chicken, duck, turkey, and something else, venison perhaps?

While my body was telling me to chow down on some of the food my mind was busy taking in the rest of the sights. As expected of a feasting hall built for warriors there were weapons and trophies on display. Some were uninteresting such as mounted swords, axes and shields, were as other things got my attention. An example of this being the skull of a troll.

Mixed in with the more basic tools of death were energy weapons and what I'd consider to be modern day firearms. There seemed to be no pattern so I assumed the display was just meant to be pleasing to the eye.

The throne also obtained my notice. It was big throne, for a big man, and a heavy one too. Who ever sat in it did do when wearing full armour was my guess. It was made of wood, and bone, not human bones, or even animal ones, if I had to guess I'd say it was made from the remains of massive creatures.

Along one wall were display cases, and I got closer to them so I could check out their contents. Whoever had collected the relics within had good taste in my view and I doubted anything in them had been brought or faked.

Within the cases I saw daggers of many kinds, a few bits of jewellery, all of which was enchanted in some way I was sure. I also saw small horns, some fangs, feathers, some bones. As well as a few things I couldn't even name.

Next I saw some full book shelves, no serious tomes here, more like causal reading, but on a variety of subjects, there were chairs next to the books and the reading light, which was electric, this part of the lodge was meant for reading as a form of relaxation not study.

Glancing upwards I saw nets, not fishing nets, but they held something. Bones, skulls mostly, but there were other parts of skeletons too, and plenty of room for more. I had to wonder if the person who'd designed all this was a few sandwiches short of a panic. Sure I had my trophies, but this was going a bit overboard.

Now I was moving around the edge of this long building, and at first I'd heard but not seen anyone. Not that his had concerned me. I sensed no danger nor anything demonic in the area.

At this point people were appearing, from below I suspected. I could hear people at work below in a kitchen, and if this place was based on Jorrvaskr as I suspected, I didn't doubt there were bedrooms down there as well.

More thoughts about bedrooms, and what could go inside such places, filled my mind as I was greeted by several young, and very good looking women, who all wore fur outfits that didn't look to be fake, and they wore jewellery of a primitive styles. Necklaces and bracelets made from fangs, claws and small horns.

It was as if some hunter had decided to use these ladies as living trophy racks. Another thing to notice, aside from the fact that they all had bodies other women would kill for, was that not all of them were human I was pretty sure that a few were elves of some kind.

"Welcome my lord" one of them greeted "My master awaits you".

Within seconds I'd lost my coat and my boots, but lucky for them no one was stupid enough to try to take my weapons. A warrior like myself did not let other people handle his weapon no matter their intentions. Not without a heck of a lot of trust.

Not that I was heavily armed. I was only carrying a demon-killing knife and one of my Mass Effect pistols I'd picked up from the armoury at the CRD factory. I'd decided to swap around my normal arsenal so as not to become too dependant on the weapons I used most often.

Soon I was following the women, who seemed to be rather delighted that I was here, around the back of the table and into a part of the hall I'd not seen upon entering as it sloped downwards.

In this space, resting on pillows and enough furs to give a group animal right activists a reason to riot, were two other versions of myself. They'd started off in time lines much like my own and had become very different people than they used to be.

One of the two Gothics was already known to me, and recognisable as no other Gothic I'd met had his hair styled in dreadlocks. He was called Predator Gothic, and while I'd been made a Slayer and whisked off to a Buffyverse he'd been changed chemical very soon after being handed over to a clan of yautja. I didn't know his whole story despite having spent time with the man, but I did know he was a good hunter and has his a powerful space ship. His direwolf, which wasn't really a wolf, was in her canine form and sat nearby.

The other man was a mystery to me, but I quickly concluded that this place was his as he looked more at home here than Predator Gothic did. This other man wore modern clothing of a relaxed style, however he was drinking from a horn of some sort and had one of the girls, who were not quite fully dressed in furs, gently massaging his shoulder.

This sight was an odd one because until now I'd not seen any Gothics who came to the Citadel interacting in such a way. Mostly I'd seen partners of Gothics who ran errands and businesses all over the Citadel. The Gothics I'd seen simply didn't socialise like this. Perhaps I'd been wrong about that, or perhaps things had simply changed.

"Ah here is!" Predator Gothic called out "The vampire slayer I mentioned!".

They both raised their drinks to salute me. I didn't know how to respond to that.

"You wanted to see me" I said.

I was invited to sit down with them, so I did so. The cushions were very soft, and I was soon drinking along with these other Gothics, some of mead judging by the taste.

"Slayer Gothic this is Dragonborn Gothic" Predator Gothic introduced.

That got my attention. I'd heard of Dragonborn Gothic I'd even been confused for him during my short time in Skyrim. He did look like me, only he was a big guy, and his eyes were purple were as mine were blue.

As I reached out with my Slayer senses I got a feel for the power of this person. It was intense, yet sedate right now, and not at all demonic. I was certain he could kill me with ease if he wished to.

I wondered why he was here, he seemed to have settled within this realm. Had he grown bored with heroic adventuring in Skyrim? Or had he run afoul of one of the Daedric Princes?.

One of the reasons why the Citadel had been created was give Gothics a safe haven from such powers. I could find out about later, once I'd gotten to know this Dragonborn better socially.

"I think he'll make a good partner for our little project" Predator Gothic added.

Hearing this intrigued me.

"This is about a business opportunity?" I asked.

I was looking for ways to increase my power and influence, as long as it was done carefully and the risks were minimal.

"You must have noticed that the Citadel is becoming more regulated as more of us starting make use of the place" Predator Gothic was saying "And since its meant to be a place of safety it isn't such a bad thing. People keep their families here in this realm, and its more often the harems and partners of Gothics who run the Citadel on a daily basis, but there are some of us who remember that this is a realm for Gothics. We don't want to live so strictly under the Council's rules, we came here to escape being controlled".

Dragonborn Gothic took over at this point.

"At the same time we don't want to abandon this little universe just because some people lack common sense and need things spelled out for them in rulebooks" he said "So we decided to leave the Citadel without fully leaving it. Hence the warrior lodge. Here we can live more to our liking. We keep things simple and ruled by us".

Now I was very intrigued.

"Tell me more" I requested.

Dragonborn Gothic did so.

"We'll keep the lodge limited to the versions of us who are warriors before anything else" he told told "An exclusive club with members we carefully chose. We'll build more rooms below, sound proofed and private. Gothics can stay at them when they want they get away from it all. Here they can hunt, fish, go for hikes, swim in clean lakes and rivers, or just relax at the lodge. We'll supply girls, former slaves who don't mind working for their freedom, any Gothic who takes a shine to a certain girl can become her patron, making her a personal servant who will tend to his needs when he's around, and she'll only work behind the scenes when he is not. The lodge will handle wages for the girls, but the patron can bring his favourite girl gifts if he wishes. We'll draw up contracts to protect both the girls and their patrons so that the Council will see that their rules about slavery and exploitation are followed to the extent that they won't see a need to interfere. As for the rules here at the lodge we'll keep them as simple as possible, no fighting, stealing that sort of thing".

I could get behind this.

"This will cost money to set up" Predator Gothic "And for that we need another investor, another founding member. Interested?".

Indeed I was, but before I handed over any resources I wanted to her the full plan and get everything down in writing. The Council of Gothic might be sucking some of the fun out of the Citadel with their rules but there were there to protect us and we should try to respect that even when doing our own thing.

(Line Break)

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

"You're leaving?" Buffy Summers demanded to know.

To say that she was startled by the news that I was once more hitting the road would be like saying that a gale force wind was a bit breezy. She was downright mad. However hurricane Buffy would not blow me away.

"I'm coming back" I assured her "I just want to go out there and see the sights. I want to slay in a different town. I want to check out what's happening in some other dimensions, and this is the right time to go".

Fred looked up from her laptop, she was no doubt working on something brilliant that I wouldn't understand.

"Best time for it" she said "He's done his exams and college isn't for months".

That was my reasoning. Besides with the government and Wolfram and Hart, moving in, then in the future it would be best to keep a low profile while also monitoring the situation. We could always retreat to LA later if we had to. But this would mean more careful patrolling and sneaking about. That could get dull I wanted some fun.

"If you're bored get a hobby" Buffy advised "You don't need to go running off, and what about the slaying?".

That didn't worry me as I was sure I'd find trouble no matter where I went. I was made to fight evil, which happened to exist in many forms across the multi-verse.

"You have plenty of back up and a lot of weapons" I said to my fellow Slayer as I began to fill a pouch of holding with things I was sure I would need later on "And I'm only a portal away. Its not like I can't check in, and I can be back really quickly if you need me to".

The furthest reaches of the multi-verse were the push of a button away thanks to the Sliding Devices all my group possessed. I could have afternoon tea in Silverymoon with Lady Alustriel, dinner in New York, and then go for a drink in Afterlife on Omega, and that was without using the services of the Citadel, but Buffy would rather I stay here. What madness.

But I wanted to get out there. I had a electronic copy of a Planswalker's Guild to the Multi-verse that was full of wondrous places to visit and I'd only ever seen a handful of them. And now was the best time to go out and see them. I might not have a chance to in the future.

"If you want to waste your time with pointless stuff going to class while at school and hanging out at the Bronze doing nothing, then you're free to do so" I said to Buffy "Me I'm going to out there and live a little".

This opinion was shared by others.

"Let me pack a bag" said Faith "This town gets boring after a while".

I then heard Fred slam her laptop shut.

"Time I took a break" she decided "I do way too much work for the company and its not my job to run it. Rupert and Jenny can hire more people, and once I get back I can go over my research papers with a fresh set of eyes".

Buffy was all huffy.

"You can't just leave!" she yelled.

Actually we could, that was the point I'd been trying to make.

"Its not a big deal" I argued "We all have omni-tools that can contact us anywhere on Earth, and if we're not on Earth then leave a message for me at the Citadel. Don't worry I plan to check in".

She had more to say.

"What if the world ends?" she asked.

I sighed.

"The world has gotten long well enough with only one slayer throughout history, and unlike them you have witches to back you up and a load of magical weapons" I reminded her, and not for the first time.

I realised then that I had to deal with the situation another way.

"You know you also benefit from me going out of town" I told Miss Summers "You can have a party while I'm away. I'll even leave you some money for party supplies".

Buffy looked as if she was suddenly remembering that I had a big house and lots of money.

"Just make sure you hide the witchcraft stuff and I'll put a glamour on the study door as well as my bedroom door" I said.

My girls had been bringing friends over so the house was more secure these days. Also while I owned the Bronze the manager actually running the club didn't turn away customers just because one of my girls didn't like them. If they had a big party they could be more select about who got to come.

"If you have a party, clean up after, and don't let anyone mess with the baby nature goddess we have growing in the backyard".

I wondered how many people across the multi-verse had ever spoken those words.

(Line Break)

 **Art Gallery. Sunnydale.**

The business run by Mrs Summers (Buffy's Mom) was not as impressive as I would have imagined. I'd been expecting a classy art gallery, and it was that, but the scale and variety of merchandise was much less than I'd been expecting, however this could benefit me as part of my ongoing plans.

I'd been thinking about the future, more so than normal, and I'd become concerned about Buffy, and not for the first time. It was natural for people to drift apart, sometimes relationships simply didn't endure. It didn't help that Buffy and I were very different people despite having the whole Slayer thing in common.

Within months my girls, well most of them, would be starting college, and that was often a time of discovery, a time when people discovered more about themselves, and changed.

Which made me wonder if the group would spilt at that point. Buffy might decide she wanted to date hunky college boys, Willow and Tara could both turn to the gay side of the Force, Amy and Marcie were much more confident than they used to be so they might look elsewhere for companionship.

I wasn't worried about Faith, as while she had bucket loads of issues disloyalty was not one of her failings. If you were kind to her, if you treated her with respect, and gave her a new game console once it a while, there wasn't much she wouldn't do for you as it didn't involve housework.

If there were some split in the group and one or more of my girls left my harem I would no longer have to support them. However that didn't mean I wanted them to go out into the big bad world without some sort of safety net. I cared too much for my women to stand by and do nothing even if might be more satisfying do nothing, let them fail, and have come crawling back to me.

With that in mind I'd come to the art gallery which was managed by Buffy's Mom. She found me while I was standing before an exhibit of tribal African art, none of which triggered my Slaydar and was rather tasteful.

"Damien what are you doing here?" she asked "Is Buffy okay?".

She was as far as I knew. She should be at school taking an afternoon class.

"She's fine" I assured the older woman "This isn't a personal visit I'm here on business".

Her facial expression let me know that she'd not expected to ever do business with me.

"CRD is a multi-million dollar company" I told the art dealer "and we've done some refurbishing recently to make it more friendly to the public. But its a little bare, and not the most welcoming of places".

Which had been pluses in the past, as it meant people stayed away from the factory, offices and warehouse that made up CRD, but since it was a respectable growing company with software updates on the way that should increase profits further, I had decided to make it a place outsiders could visit and leave believing that they'd seen a real business.

"I'd like you to work with Mr Giles and decorate the place with some artwork that will impress any visitors" I was now saying to Mrs Summers "I'll leave the details up to the two of you, but don't spare any expense. I also wanted to talk investing in your gallery".

Again she was surprised.

"I know you brought that nightclub you kids like to go to, but that doesn't mean you know anything about art, or how to sell it" Joyce Summers pointed out.

She was right to say that. I didn't run my businesses, and I didn't understand much about how finances work. Which was I left such things to Giles and Mrs Calendar, as well as my demonic accountants and lawyers, who knew exactly how bad of an idea it was to rip me off.

"I want to be a silent a partner as possible" I explained "I just want to ensure that you can support Buffy should she decide to go to college somewhere else".

Mrs Summers now looked concerned.

"Are you two having problems?" she asked.

Buffy's Mom might have gotten her head around the whole slaying business, but her daughter's love life was something she tended to do her best to ignore. Still she was making an effort now, and that was good. There had been a time when Buffy had barely spoken to her own mother.

"Not really" I answered "I've just been thinking about how college is a time of change. I think its best to be prepared, and as I mentioned already I want to make sure she has some financial support even if we drift apart. She's risked her life to keep the world safe I think the world owes her a debt".

I realised then that my designer suit while great for business meeting and making first impressions, was not so great for trying to look causal and relaxed in. Mrs Summers saw right through me, of that I was sure. She knew how worried I was. Perhaps that concern was why I wanted to get from it all for a while.

"Okay Damien I'll give your investment idea some thought" she said kindly "And I'll talk to Mr Giles, and I won't say a word about this to Buffy".

That would be fine with me.


	21. Chapter 21

**Author Note**

The Pan-Dimensional Marketplace is my own invention, but feel free to use in any story that involves people travelling the multi-verse.

 **Slayer Gothic 3 - Chapter 21**

 **The Pan-dimensional Marketplace.**

After jumping through a portal, along with Fred and Faith, I now found myself standing within the strangest settlement I had ever witnessed, a place well beyond anything I'd ever seen portrayed in any fictional series.

This city, for lack of a better term, was quite large, there were hundreds of buildings that I could make out and more in the distance, also I could see thousands of people, if they could be called that, bustling through the many streets.

The city itself seemed to be a mix of fantasy and Sci-fi, the buildings and most of the people looked like they were right out of the middle ages, yet at the same time I could see different devices that were far more advanced than anything found on my world if I was any judge. It was all mashed up together, yet it seemed to be working smoothly enough.

There were also the inhabitants of this place to check out, too many take them all into account; I could clearly see creatures and beings straight out of fictional works, and many more that I didn't recognise at all.

All sorts of aliens, demons, cyborgs and much, much stranger things passed me by, each focused on their own individual tasks as they visited the multitude of stores all around us.

"Fucking hell" Faith said.

That did summarise it up rather well.

"So there's more than one Citadel" Fred reasoned.

Thinking on I realised that she was right. This was much like the Citadel of Gothics in that it was a small dimension that had been set up with the intention of giving a select group of people, in this case dimensional travellers a way to sell their services, buy supplies and so on. Although from what I'd heard about this place from other Gothics I doubted that it could be considered a safe haven. It was well evil really.

"Welcome to the Pan-Dimensional Marketplace" I said to Fred and Faith "It's a place where people who can traverse the multiverse can do a bit shopping. You can pretty much get anything you want here. Including souls, and slaves".

Including lots of other things that were illegal everywhere else I'd bet.

"Stay close and don't make eye contact" I instructed my girls.

After saying that we started to get moving.

"Do you barter here, or do we need money?" was Fred's question.

They did both here according to what I'd been told and there was a goblin run back, they looked very similar to the Goblins from the Harry Potter movie. Which wasn't encouraging.

Quickly I made my way to one of the empty tellers, who looked at me with a sneer. Clearly my species was not well liked here.

"A human" the Goblin teller remarked while glaring down at me from his high seat. "Most humans that pass through here tend to be of the magical nature, and I do sense some power coming from you".

Well I was magical, although I was hardly a normal mage.

"I want to trade for some of your money" I told the short humanoid "I have jewels".

All of which were inside my pouch of holding.

"Good, gold has been devalued" the Goblin told me "Some of your fellow humans got into their heads to loot a place called Fort Knox in different zombie worlds".

Now why hadn't I thought of that?.

"We still take gemstones, silver and other rare materials" I was now being informed "But not gold, we've got more than enough to supply our needs".

I handed over some of the treasures I'd picked up on my travels. Silver coins, bits of jewellery. Plenty of gems from Mareth. All of which were scanned by a metal wand.

"Sign your name here in order to make an account" the Goblin said with a grumble, while passing me a sheet of paper and a pen.

At least they're more advanced than the Harry Potter Goblins, they didn't expect people to use a quill. They had proper pens here.

"Mr Mason" the Goblin read out "Not another Gothic then".

What did they know about Gothics?

"Sorry?" I said.

At this point I didn't know what else to say.

"I'm sure you are" the creature said in a bland tone before getting on with our business "Now we don't actually convert your valuables into a local currency like a regular bank. What we do here is set up a vault for you that contains whatever you want to store that has value. The worth of what is in your vault is then shown by these tokens".

I was then handed some different colour pieces of metal, each was larger than a coin and they had numbers on them.

"So there sort of like a cross between a poker chip and check book?" I asked.

The goblin nodded.

"Should you sell anything and receive more tokens they can be traded here for material wealth in the form of gold bars, we have a lot of those" it was explained "We don't trade in souls here or slaves, be warned".

With that the humanoid dropped out of his seat and walked away, without a goodbye or anything, how rude. I also left without saying goodbye, since there was no one to say that to, and anyway my business here was complete so no sense in staying.

"So are we shopping?" Faith asked.

I'd been advised not to linger here, but now that I had some tokens it made sense to go spend them.

(Line Break)

 **Clothing Store. The Pan-dimensional Marketplace.**

"Arms behind your head" instructed the owner of this business.

Both of my girls looked to me, and after I nodded they did as they had been told. A moment later a red beam fired out twice and the end result of this was that now both Fred and Faith were naked as the day they were born.

"What the hell!" shouted out Faith.

Fred's reaction wasn't verbally made, she just attempted to cover herself up as best she could with her hands, but this was a pointless reaction and she soon stopped trying. Time spent in Mareth had robbed them of most of their modesty, but not all it seemed.

My reaction had been to reach for my weapon even though I'd known what the device would do. It was called a defabricator what else would do other than get rid of fabrics. Normally I'd be loathe to let other people see my women in such a state, but this was important.

"Calm down" I ordered.

The saleswoman, for lack of a better term, soon began scanning my girls with some sort of device. It seemed harmless enough, and even an evil business was unlikely to harm its customers as that didn't led to repeat customers, which all businesses needed.

Before long both of my girls were dressed in what I could only label as science fiction bikini armour. I didn't think what they were wearing was all metal, but it looked all futuristic. Fred and Faith were also given wrist and ankle bracelets to wear a long with a wristwatch each.

"This is the best you have?" I asked.

Given the price for the armour I'd expected more.

"Select the battle armour" the female near-human looking saleswoman.

Fred did so and just for a second I found myself looking at Illyria, only that wasn't actually the case, it was just Fred in a suit of armour that looked a lot like what Illyiria had worn during season 5 of Angel.

"Light armour that is proof against stabbing weapons and small arms fire" the saleswoman told me "Comes with a personal forcefield which is triggered by sensors that keep an eye on the user's well being. Anyone who throws a punch, a spell or fires a gun at whomever wears this armour is in for a surprise. The shield is always active so you don't really need the full suit of armour, but even the best tech can fail, and there are always methods around defences so its best to have layers of protection".

Hearing this pleased me as I wanted my girls to have better protection if we were going to be wandering around the multi-verse.

"You can also select a variety of outfits using the control device" the girls were informed "Everything from formal evening wear to sleepwear. If you scan an outfit the system will mimic it for you. So need to worry about lugging a lot of clothes around with you. The system uses nanoweave technology to keep itself clean, and it can repair itself".

More needed to be explained.

"The bracelets enhance strength, stamina, reflexes and speed to near super human levels" the saleswoman was now saying "Nothing too outrageous, but more than enough for personal defence".

This sounded very good.

"If you want something with fire power and more defences than I can suggest a good armourer" I was now being told "But when it comes to mixing style and self defence, this is the best we have".

Faith was now admiring herself in the mirror as she made her new sort of armour transform into different outfits.

"How does it come off" she wondered.

As it turned out it came off like another set of bra and panties.

"I'll take them" I decided.

This would use up a lot of my tokens, but I could get more gems from Mareth. Besides the safety of my girls was what mattered most.

(Line Break)

 **Streets. LA.**

Boris grinned as he surveyed the two blondes he and his two companions had dragged into the alley. They were real babes, a pair of late teens with models' faces and cheerleaders' bodies. Just the sort he'd always been into but never got close to before William the Bloody had turned him back in 1987. But now, he could take all the women he wanted.

"Oh," he said with a leer, as he ran an ice-cold finger down the a girl's neck. "You're a cutie aren't you?"

His smile broadened as she whimpered in fear.

"We're going to have some real fun" Boris stated.

That was when someone new entered the scene.

"Somehow I doubt she'd enjoy it" a voice said.

Boris turned his head upon hearing that only for his world to explode in pain when a bone-shattering fist collided into his jaw. Surprised, he stumbled backwards, and soon blood was filling his mouth, his own blood and he had tears of pain blurring his eyes.

"Who the fuck are you?" he growled at his attacker.

She was a curvy brunette with brown eyes..

"I'm the Slayer," she explained. "Maybe you've heard of me?"

Boris was now scared for the first time in over a decade, the skill and strength of the Slayer was something he'd only heard about, but terrified him and now he was facing one.

Quickly looking around for some sort of escape or distraction he glanced at his two minions.

"Get her!" he ordered.

After a moment's hesitation, his two minions lunged forward. The Slayer leapt to meet them, side-stepping to the right before snapping out a heel kick that cracked into the nearest vampire's knee. His other minion tried to grab the powerful young women, but she sent him sprawling into some nearby bins with a clatter.

Boris roared, half in fury, half in fear. He leapt forward, and the Slayer crouched down, and he started to fly over his target's head only for the teen's hand to fly up and grab him in an incredibly strong grip before flinging him into his childe by the left wall.

His two minions, vampire he had created were still in the fight as it took a lot to take a vamp out of action, and what didn't turn them into dust tended to heal fast depending on how often they fed and these vamps fed often. As such they still had a chance.

That was until another woman appeared, and this was when Boris noticed they wore matching armour of some kind, and to make matters even worse, this second woman had a wooden stake in her hand. Which she clearly knew how to use.

As one of his childe, a vampire he'd sired, was being slain, Boris had to deal with the Slayer coming for him. Boris was no master vampire, but he'd gotten turned by Spike because even as a mortal he'd been good in a brawl and William the Bloody at the time had needed some muscle.

He started by narrowly avoiding a downward strike, undeterred, the raven-haired beauty slammed a foot into his stomach in a move he didn't see coming. She fast as well as strong.

Boris winced in pain, but not for long as she'd driven a stake through his heart. Wait no not a stake, some kind of knife, it shouldn't have been lethal, but already he was exploding and turning to dust.

The last remaining vampire couldn't quite believe what he had just seen. There were two Slayers, which was impossible, and one had killed his sire with a knife that made him explode into dust rather than just collapse into it as a vampire should when slain.

"Tell ya what stud," said the raven-haired beauty as she began to move nearer him with that strange knife "You tell me where you demon types hang out and I won't kill you."

As the Slayer talked, her companion, a young male, too young to be a Watcher, and too well armed to be civilian, moved to cut off the vampire's only means of escape. The other woman, who looked a little older, but still young enough to be a Slayer had the other side of the alleyway covered.

Knowing things were hopeless he quickly babbled out some directions. Afterwards the Slayer winked and turned away.

"Thanks" she said.

Seeing his chance, the young vampire, he'd been turned less than a year ago made a run for it. Taking his chances with the human man, but this proved to the biggest mistake of his unlife as the man took out a gun and vaporised the vampire.

"How dumb do you think he was?" the man asked the two women "Actually thinking we'd let him live?"

Faith grinned.

"Maybe he got me mixed up with B huh?" she said.

The male smiled.

"Just remember who the real Slayers are" he chided "That armour doesn't make you one of us".

The subject was soon changed by the third member of the group.

"What happened to the girls?" she asked.

The male answered.

"They ran away" he answered.

"Smart," Faith said "Don't think they'll be going out much in the near future. So we heading for the demon bar?"

The man, who really was a slayer, grinned.

"Well we should really test out those suits" he said.

(Line Break)

 **Alien Planet. Stargate Verse.**

The sound of hunting horns and shouting filled the air as I ran. Soon weapons fire was being exchanged, which only made things more noisy and dangerous. Which was making it harder for me to focus on escape.

All we'd done is beat up a minor Goauld and take his fancy wrist device, and that we were being hunted down like dogs, it just wasn't fair. It wasn't as if those parasites couldn't heal themselves.

Thankfully we only had Jaffa chasing us, and those guys couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with those stupid staff weapons, and the zat guns didn't have the range needed here. Which I knew because I'd grabbed one and had found it to be less than helpful.

Not that I was defenceless I still had my Mass Effect pistol, and it was one of the older designs that didn't need heat sinks. Predator Gothic had been using a ten millimetre pistol, that must have come from the Fallout Verse he liked to use as a hunting ground. That had long since run out of ammo, so he'd fallen back to using his shoulder mounted plasma caster, and while it had a slow of fire, it was accurate, and deadly even over a distance.

Dragonborn Gothic could have Shouted us open a portal at any time, apparently he could do that, he was that he powerful, but rather than do this was being forced to use his great power to Shout Death Gliders out of the air while Predator Gothic and I ran for it.

"This was a bad idea" I said, once we had stopped in some woods "if we get out of this I'm going to find an easier way to travel the multi-verse!".

I took a few deep breaths.

"Jaffa, Kree!".

That was when I spotted something that even for me was just ridiculous. The Dragonborn was running towards while carrying a Gao'uld sarcophagus over one shoulder. Which was just insane.

"He went back for that?!" I yelled.

"How strong is he?" I heard Predator Gothic ask.

At this point I was starting to understand why all the different versions of myself didn't hang out much. Clearly it was no good for our already fragile sanities.

(Line Break)

 **Warrior Lodge. Realm of Gothics.**

So far this whole lodge idea was proving to be an enjoyable investment. Winifred ever the smart one had booked the baths here for my private use so that she make a report, hopefully without anyone overhearing us.

This bathroom contained a large tub, that wasn't really a tub more of a shallow and large hole in the ground that was filled with water from massive taps. Clearly some magic was involved as you didn't normally get bubble bath piped into places.

I'd sent Fred to work in the kitchens for an evening so that she could find out if the women being brought here as servants were being treated fairly or not. She'd been my spy, and her job had been to access the quality of life for the girls here so that I further invest with some peace of mind.

While I took pleasure from having attractive ladies serving me in anyway I desired I also didn't people being preyed upon, most of the time this was a literal concern as vampires and many kinds of demons did eat people, but I was also an enemy of slavery. Which might seem odd considering I had a harem and had invested a little in this place, however I was an odd person.

Currently Fred was in one of her more maternal moods, an emotional state that often involved her trying to bath me or feed me, as in actually cooking She got so engrossed in her work sometimes that she tended to forget that she had a sort of boyfriend and a life outside her lab. No doubt when she did remember she felt guilty and tried to compensate.

"How did you escape?" Fred asked me.

A few moments ago I'd just finished telling her about my most recent adventure.

"Oh Dragonborn Gothic was able to do a Shout that sent us to safety. So how was your evening?" I asked.

I'd left Faith at the Citadel in the apartments I kept there. She'd have been bored here at the lodge, but that wasn't a concern at the apartments as they were fully equipped with all modern comforts, some of which hadn't been invented yet in her world. She could amuse herself with DVDs and video games for the night.

"Not too bad" Fred reported as she took her time in washing my back "They worked me pretty hard, and I got whacked with a wooden spoon by he woman in charge of the kitchen a few times, but we had breaks and a big dinner, so at least the girls here aren't being starved or beaten".

That was good to hear. I didn't live in a world of black and white, I understood that there were shades of grey. Still I had a code, there were things I was willing to tolerate and things that I simply didn't put up with. At least not if I could help it.

"So its not like I aided in setting up a sweatshop?" I asked.

I felt rather than saw, Winifred shrug.

"Willow and Buffy would demand you close this place down" she then said "But they always think they know what is right and wrong. I think its better than what those girls would have had if they were slaves somewhere else".

Fred had for a short time actually been a slave to demons in another dimension until she'd run away. I'd saved her from that world, and while her experience had been a bad one it did give her a different perspective about cultures that my other girls lacked.

"All the girls here seem eager about getting a patron" Fred was now telling me "I hope you remember that your harem is full".

Yes I had more than enough girls to be getting on with. In fact I might have too many.

"Most people just want attention and affection" I said to Fred as she began washing my hair "And when you've had so little it doesn't take much for someone to win your loyalty".

Which was one of the reasons why I kept Faith around and favoured her so much. Aside from being sexy, adventurous in bed, and fun to hang out with, she was very loyal to me personally.

"Come we should get some sleep" I said to Fred when I realised she yawning quite a bit.

She rubbed her eyes as she got out of the bath.

"Fine but we're having sex" she insisted "I don't want you get tempted by the serving girls".

All in all I really did love my harem, or at least I loved having a harem.


	22. Chapter 22

**Slayer Gothic 3 - Chapter 22**

 **Home. Sunnydale.**

An angry Cordelia Chase stormed into my house, getting past all the warding and mystical defences, while this proved that she was actually human, something which I'd doubted in the past, that didn't mean she was welcome here. I had a big headache due to the party I'd just finished with, and I was in no mood for her mix of undeserved sense of self importance and stomach turning bile .

"Which one of you freaks was responsible for last night!" she demanded to know.

Ah last night had been fun. I'd gone to a party on the Citadel, and then we'd all come to Sunnydale to fight demons, and to paint the town red. Literally in some cases, with red paint not blood.

The cause of my joy wasn't I'd sold off my space ship, the one I'd left in a D&D realm last year, and for it I had gained a new toy.

"Just what I need" I said "a banshee whore".

Cordelia may have protested to that, but before she could I opened up a portal beneath her feet and gravity did the rest. I'd gotten the portal gun from a super genius version of myself. Even he didn't know how they worked, nor could he replicate them easily so they were worth a space ship.

"You can't just go zapping people into alternate dimensions," Buffy complained.

This was not the case.

"Clearly I can zap people into alternate dimensions as you just saw me do it, although I would hardly consider Cordelia Chase to be people" I replied "and I'm fed up with you whining every time I do something that clashes with your supposed morals. I don't have the same sense of ethics than you do, but that doesn't make me a bad person".

"It's still wrong!" Buffy said resolutely.

Sometimes I'd be better off talking to a brick wall.

"Where I am?" asked a voice "And why did I land in a pile of money?".

To my surprise the portal was still open, and I really wasn't the type of person to let even Cordelia Chase die because I couldn't be bothered to get up off the couch. It was a close thing, but as it turned out I did value even her life.

With that in mind I jumped through the portal and ended up in an alternate version of my house. Only it wasn't really my house, it wasn't furnished the same, and it was night time here. Also I'd landed on a big pile of cash, a pile that Cordelia was currently playing with.

"Where did all this money come from?" Buffy asked.

I told her soon after she had jumped into the portal.

"You robbed a bank!" she yelled

For some reason Slayer healing didn't handle hangovers like it did cuts and bruises. Clearly a design flaw, one that I should get fixed.

"Banks plural" I corrected "And I robbed the banks in this dimension which was overrun by zombies years ago. So at worse it was looting".

I turned to Cordelia who was trying to look innocent.

"Put it all back" I ordered her "Its useless to you, they have different Presidents here".

She took some money out of her pockets and threw it back in the pile.

"Do I have to check your purse?" I asked her.

I was way scarier than her so she gave in before long.

"Fine!" she shouted.

Cordelia huffed opening her purse and started tossing out stacks of hundred dollar bills.

"You've also stuffed your bra, your breasts aren't normally that big" Buffy pointed out "And these hundred dollar bills are right. Its just the twenty dollar bills and fifty dollar bills that have the wrong presidents on them".

I don't know why I cared. It wasn't as if I needed the money .

"Promise not to frisk me and I'll ignore whatever disaster you losers caused last night," Cordelia promised.

Since I figured she might be poor by now, her father had a run in with the IRS in season 3 if I remembered correctly, I didn't frisk her, or demand she empty her bra. Instead I opened another portal under her feet, the device was mind controlled so I knew where I'd sent her this time. She should be in the drive way. Thankfully was house was private so no would notice.

"Okay where did you get that thing?" Buffy asked "And where the hell are we?" .

I took a moment to gather my thoughts before replying. I still wasn't firing at full cylinders.

"This thing is a portal gun, its like our Sliding Devices only with this thing you just have to think about where you want to go and it will open a portal to that place with no need for a hotspot" I answered

Given that I'd nearly gotten stuck on a planet full of upset Jaffa I was so glad for the upgrade, the only downside was the tech couldn't be replicated, its power source was too fragile to dismantle.

"As for where we are, this is an alternate version of Earth that was over run by zombies years ago" I then added "I figured I'd use an alternate version of the house to store the goods I looted. But I was drunk and forgot that the money would be worthless. Hence why I started robbing the jewellery stores. I'm hoping to gain enough wealth that I can take all of you shopping at the pan-dimensional marketplace for some serious upgrades".

It was amazing how the mere mention of shiny things and shopping could alter the mood of my fellow Slayer. She was no longer making a frowny face at me.

"Wait hold. You robbed a jewellery store?" Buffy asked in surprise.

Not really.

"We're in Sunnydale" I told her "But like I already explained all human life here was wiped out by zombies, which have mostly since decayed away, since apparently zombies break down after a while unless there's a Necromancer around to keep them running".

Which made sense once you realised that they couldn't heal. Humans got bumps, little cuts, and bruises all the time, we were fragile things true, but we healed. Zombies are even more clumsy than people, and they can't heal so there comes a point when they simply start falling apart, and they decay rapidly as well since unlike regular human corpses no one has taken steps to preserve the bodies like we do for funerals.

"I-I-What. How?" she asked.

At this point I figured that it was easier to show then tell. So I took Buffy outside, and took her to my car. My new car.

"This feels so weird," Cordelia said.

She was commenting that the wheel on the right hand side of the car.

"It's the British version of my car" I explained "In this universe the war for Independence was lost and George Washington was hung from a Cherry tree for treason".

Buffy was looking loopy at this point.

"Later on the USA became a proper nation when the British Empire collapsed due to the World Wars" I was now saying "That's why this place is more British, and why the money is all wrong for your world, but otherwise it is just Sunnydale without the people".

I did so love alternate histories.

"Which side of the road do you drive on?" she asked as I started up her car.

Really that was her question.

"We have an entire alternate Sunnydale we can play with, were we don't have to worry about the consequences, and you're worried about what side of the road we should drive on" I said.

She was totally nuts.

"We can loot all the jewels and jewellery we want" I went on to say "We can take priceless works of art and decorate our apartments on the Citadel with them. We can run naked through the streets, or burn down the school. After we check for zombies".

Buffy's eye lit up.

"Burn down the school?" she asked.

Well this was Season 3

(Line Break)

 **Home. Sunnydale (the real one)**

"Why do you two smell like..." Willow wondered as she looked up from where she, Tara, Amy, and Marcie were doing their homework "...arson?"

I'd never imagined being asked that question.

"Arson has a smell?" I wondered.

I sniffed myself, but that just made me want to shower.

"Gasoline, wood smoke and melted plastics," Buffy said "I burned down the gym of my last school so I'm familiar with the smell".

Ah that made sense. But how did Willow know the smell? Perhaps I was better off not knowing.

"Well as it turns out" I told the red head "Actually burning down a building on purpose is hard work. All those warnings we've seen on television about forest fires and not leaving cigarettes lit, well they might have been exaggerated".

The girls all stared at me, they seemed confused.

"Buffy and I just burned down the high school" I told them.

That didn't help much.

"In an alternate universe were no one lives" I then added.

That did help.

"That's a relief.. I mean, bad, Damien" Willow said.

The others seemed conflicted.

"Bad Damien for not inviting me" Amy said.

Well it had been a spur of the moment thing.

"Anyway we had fun" Buffy said.

"So was there nudity and dancing around a burning school?" Marcie asked with a grin.

I grinned. Buffy had her 'I got laid smile' on her face.

"There was nudity, but only Buffy danced" I answered.

My fellow Slayer could really cut lose when she didn't have act like the hero. Plus it was clear that she resented high school on some level.

"Anyway I'm going to go shower" I told my harem "Anyone want to join me".

Buffy did because she also smelled of a major felony.

(Line Break)

 **Home. Sunnydale (the other one)**

"What happened to the huge pile of money?" Willow asked, as she and Amy looked around the alternate version of my house "And the jewels and jewellery?.

Good questions.

"I used the money for kindling when burning down the school" I answered "As for the rest it went to funding my new account. I should have enough to get you all that body armour upgrade soon enough".

Willow opened her mouth, no doubt to ask another question when suddenly the sound of beeping filled the air. After walking to the window I saw Amy was already outside, and she'd triggered a car alarm, this alternate version of my house didn't have all the same cars as the real house did, but some were alike.

Which thinking on didn't really make sense since I'd never lived in this house, but the multi-verse was vast, complex and silly. Also her stealing the car to take it back with us would be pointless since the steering wheel was on the wrong side and I doubted it would work anyway. Cars left out for years exposed to the elements with no maintenance don't just start up.

Since Amy was being totally safe I went and stuck my head at the window.

"Zombies are attracted to loud noises" I warned her.

With that she stopped messing about.

"So would you like to commit arson with me?" I asked Willow "We already burned down the school, but there must be something you'd like to burn down. Your middle school maybe?".

She gave it some though.

"I do have unresolved feelings about my parents leaving me alone at home so they could go on their stupid trips" she admitted "So let's burn my house down".

Sounded like a plan to me.

"Will you be naked?" she asked.

No reason not to be. I could magic to protect myself for a time, and defensive spells were normally dependable. Not much bad karma in wanting to stay alive if it didn't harm other people.

"But of course," I assured the currently red haired faced girl. "We will make smores over the burning remains of your parent's house, while naked.

Not that I would eat the smores as I didn't like the taste, but making them for other people wasn't a waste.

"Really?" Willow asked "That does sound like fun".

The red headed witch followed me as I went out to talk to Amy

"We were thinking of torching Willow's house, you in?" I asked.

The witch squealed and bounced on her heels.

"Yes!" she then yelled.

We'd have to pop back for the smores, but that wouldn't take too long.

(Line Break)

 **Willow's House. Alternate Sunnydale.**

"I think the freedom has gotten to her" I said to Willow as we followed Amy in the building for the pre-fire looting.

She was carrying a cricket bat and was already smashing a few things, even as I scanned the area for zombies. Of which we'd encountered none so far.

"Freedom?" Willow asked "This is just madness. She's smashing my house up for no reason. Well okay isn't really my house, but you get the point".

I shrugged. I didn't see the point in worrying. We could only injure ourselves or each other while here. Which thinking on it actually was a concern.

"Amy wait until you get the new armour" I advised "Then you can pillage, burn and ravish to your heart's content".

"Ravish?" asked a nervous sounding Willow.

There were valid reasons as to why I hung around with her as little as possible. Even Tara didn't fret this much, not these days. She must be under exam pressure. A lot was expected of Willow when it came to test scores.

"It means to seize and carry off someone by force" I said, reading from my omni-tool "to fill with strong emotion, such as joy, also to rape".

What a very odd word.

"I guess you can be kidnapped and raped, and somehow find it fun" I said "If you were abducted from somewhere really bad".

Some people had weird fantasies.

"Although it does raise some interesting points about what freedom means here," I mused "We are the only three people on this Earth, so we own it, and everything in it".

I had brought the whole planet from the Inter-dimensional Council of Gothics. They'd raided the place already, but only in places like New York and London so there was still a lot of wealth here. I'd given them both my spelljammers in exchange for this world and a portal gun, well worth it since I could loot this world for gold, fill my vaults at the goblin bank and buy whatever I needed. I never used either ship anyway because one was broken and the other had just remained docked at the port at Salazar Town.

"We can do whatever we want!" Amy exclaimed happily. "Think about it. There are no police, no teachers, no parents!"

"It's complete anarchy!" Willow realised.

Actually it wasn't.

"I think a proper anarchy requires people to rebel against, this world is more of an absolute monarchy a form of autocracy" I corrected.

"A monarchy?" Willow questioned.

I nodded.

"Since I own the planet, its my property, at least according to the Council of Gothics, and there's no one here who can argue with them. Since I own it I control it, and rule it. Hence I am king of the world. You have to obey my every command or I punish you in anyway I see fit, and since no one is here to stop me I can punish you in ways that normally get me arrested".

Willow made an epp noise.

"So how is that different than home?" Amy asked.

I gave it some thought.

"Well our contracts apply no matter where we are so I still have to protect you and support you, but since we don't have to hide anything I can punish you by say making you stay naked the whole day, and there's no one here to arrest you for indecent exposer. But this also means that unless I tell you not to do something, you can do whatever you want. Such as spending the whole day naked".

I had nudity on the brain recently, and I had no idea why. Must be hormones. I was in the body of an eighteen year old who had a demonic essence within him, that was bound to cause me to be a bit loopy at times.

"And now for the arson," Amy said cheerfully.

The witch quickly unbuttoned her blouse and unhooked her bra, she was now completely at ease and unselfconscious about being topless. Partly that was Marth's influence, but still this was wild even for us. It must be because there was no one else around.

"Why is Amy stripping?!" Willow exclaimed in shock "You're suppose to be the only one naked".

Bit unfair.

"Arson, even it isn't actually arson here, is best done naked," I said as I took off my shirt "Now let's burn down your parents house.

As I unbuttoned my jeans, Willow quickly nodded her head.

"Okay but you gotta have sex with me not Amy" she said "It is my house we're burning".

That made me chuckle. Guess she could stop fretting after all.

"You don't make demands of the king of the world" I told her.

Gathering her courage, Willow quickly began to strip.

"I could get on my knees and beg" she said once naked "Would that help?".

My cock answered for her by getting hard.

(Line Break)

 **Sunnydale. Alternate Earth.**

"What kind of motorcycle do you want to get?" Buffy asked me.

This is not the kind of thing I'd imagined doing with own world, but I was having problems with my fellow Slayer, and so spending time with her did seem like a good way to sort things out. I suspected that we'd been butting heads recently due to her concerns over finishing high school and choosing which college to go to.

"What?" I asked.

"I said, what kind of motorcycle do you want to get," she repeated. "I mean since we have our pick and money's no problem, we have any number of bike possibilities".

She sure did love her motorbikes.

"I'm not sure," I admitted as I considered the question. "I'm pretty sure all the brands I have actually ridden don't exist in this world. This world's alternate history seems to have played havoc with the car and motorbike industries".

Well from my point of view it was all crazy. However I was sure to a native, if there had been any, it would all make sense.

"What do you suggest?" I asked.

This time she gave the matter some thought.

"I'd suggest we take a couple of bikes that can comfortably seat two and we ride those to LA," Buffy said. "If one breaks down we can ride double on the other one. Once there we can portal home, but I want to ride there since we can".

Some Slayers were bad with cars, motorbikes were different for some reason. Perhaps Buffy's predecessors had just preferred them and like the fighting skills the driving skills got passed on.

"That does sound like fun" I said as I considered the idea.

"How long since you've ridden?" Buffy asked me.

I didn't know.

"It's been a while" I told her "Normally I use a car since I rarely go anywhere alone".

I then spotted a bike that so gorgeous that I feel in love, or lust, or whatever it was that made men love motorbikes.

"This is going to be fun!" I said.

They had Harley's here. Yay.

(Line Break)

 **Streets. Alternate LA.**

"Its... Los Angeles without traffic," Buffy said "Its so spooky".

Since Sunnydale was on the Hellmouth it wasn't so noticeable there, but here I could feel the wrongness of the place.

"I know it feelS spooky, but you'll get used to it" I told her.

"It's usually a lot less... this," she said, waving a hand. "Alternate Sunnydale isn't like this!".

I knew what she meant.

"Sunnydale is a town, and its quiet there at night because most people are indoors, or at the Bronze, or the movies. They don't wander the streets so much so there you're used to not being crowded. Here you are in a big city that should be noisy and crowded at all time but there's not a single person around other than us. Plus I suspect the the Hellmouth interferes with our Slayer senses somewhat. We're getting a clearer reading out here".

Also LA had never, ever smelled so good, and it was all so clean. Yet it was also very wrong.

"Yeah, makes sense" she said, shutting off her bike and putting down the kickstand. "I'm riding with you"

I smiled as she climbed on the bike behind me and wrapped her arms around me. I started driving, keeping it under twenty, so that the wind didn't muffle our voices.

"The sun's almost set," Buffy said. "Where are we going to spend the night here, or do you want to portal home?"

This was something to consider.

"I need to clear the area of zombies" I told her "Clearing the whole city will take hours even with our hardware so let's make a start and then portal home. No sense sleeping here if we can avoid it".

No such thing as Zombie proofing wards as far as I knew. But there were ways to make things safer.

(Line Break)

 **Rooftop. Alternate LA.**

"Really" Buffy asked "Out of all the music in the world, all the worlds, and you chose this song".

Michael Jackson's thriller filled the air, it could be heard for miles around I was sure, as there was no other noise to compete with it.

"It seemed the only logical choice" I replied as I prepared my sniper rifle "Besides the zombies here are attracted to movement and loud sounds, and I wasn't going to use anyone as bait".

When the first zombies appeared, and they were the slow moving kind, I took them down with head-shots, taking my time as there was no rush.

"If we do that every time we move to explore a different part it will be much safer" I said once the song had ended and there was nothing for me to shot at "We still have to worry about any zombies that got stuck behind locked doors, and stuff like that, but we're Slayers, we fight the undead, its what we do".

Buffy nodded in approval.

"Great idea on luring them out" she praised "You're smart and sexy".

Well I couldn't take the credit this time.

"Actually I saw this in a zombie movie" I admitted.

She seemed intrigued.

"Really, which one?" she wondered.

I had to think about it.

"No idea" I replied "There's like a million zombie movies and they're all the same.

I put away the sniper rifle.

"What do you have in mind to do next?" I asked Buffy "We can come back tomorrow and loot".

And loot we would.

"Dinner and a movie?" she asked hopefully.

"That sounds pretty good" I said, but in the real LA its now morning, so it will have to be a big early bird breakfast followed by some time at the beach".

Buffy squeezed me tightly.

"Did I mention that my biggest erogenous zone is my tummy?" she said.

I may have heard about that somewhere before


	23. Chapter 23

**Joe Lawyer**

Yeah he could say take over Atlantis if he can get the Ancient gene somehow, but why bother? Stealing a Ha'tak would be way easier and more useful.

Considering that LA has a population of more than 3 million people its not unreasonable that even with most of the zombies having long since rotted away that there could still be hundreds if not thousands of them left, and that would still be far less than 1 percent of people who got turned who are still around.

The Pan Dimensional Marketplace first appeared in Overlord Gothic many, many years ago. Its been used with my permission in other stories.

I don't even know where I got the idea for nanoweave or even what it means, it does sound like techno babble.

Actually Slayer Gothic is more powerful than Predator Gothic. Predator Gothic's power comes from being chemical altered and his advanced technology. Slayer Gothic has a lot of mystical power, spells, a wider arrange of fighting skills, weapons and technology. Also he has a lot of backup.

Dragonborn Gothic is a power house when compared to others, but he's munched on a lot of dragon souls and he's figured out how to make new Shouts. But he's far from invincible.

Buffy is fine really, its just that she's worried about her future. She went through the same thing with Angel in season 3. But this story is different so it won't end the same way.

 **Sandmanwake**

No for reasons that will soon be explained.

 **Slayer Gothic 3 - Chapter 23**

 **Mall. Alternate LA.**

As it turns out looting a mall was actually rather hard work, and rather pointless considering that I could just buy the kind of things they sold elsewhere for reasonable prices, but bringing all my girls here, aside from Tara who didn't like the vibes, was a good chance for them to blow off some steam. Plus there were jewellery stores here I could pillage so it wasn't a total waste of my time.

However it was also thirsty work. It was hot in this version of LA, and it didn't help that was I was wearing full armour. Mine wasn't made of fancy armour nano-weave tech, whatever that meant, so I was getting overheated.

"I could do with a drink" I muttered

Before I saw or heard anything I'd spun on the spot, having been given a warning of a presence by my supernatural senses, and I now had my gun, which could vaporise people, pointed at someone I couldn't quite see.

"There's a water fountain five feet behind you," the woman said "The water is kept free from impurities due to an advanced filtration system of my own design".

This was unexpected. Of all the people to survive the end of days on an alternate Earth and it was Winifred Burkle. She sounded odd, not like she had back in the Host's dimension, this was something else, she sounded colder.

"Fred?" I asked.

Winifred was here, but also close by looting an electronics store.

"No, Fred is the name of the shell" the woman replied "I am Illyria, God-King and Shaper of Things".

I really should be surprised, but I wasn't. This world had a Sunnydale so there should be something supernatural here, aside from the zombies. I knew that one member of the Council of Gothics could sense the energy of powerful people, and he couldn't sense anyone in this world, but that ability didn't work on the dead and undead. Illyria must not truly be alive.

"So you're a survivor?" I asked "Are there more people around?".

The Council of Gothics had promised that there weren't, still they could have made a mistake. After all they were powerful, but they weren't perfect.

"I have not seen or talked to anyone in eight years, not since the Zombie Apocalypse destroyed the primitives of this world" Illyria told me "Even animal life avoids this place and the song of the green is almost mute here".

This made some sense to me. The information given to me about this world stated that there was a lot of black mana (dark magical energy) left over from when all the people died and got turned into more zombies. It was why nature hadn't reclaimed the land. It was as if the place was flooded with lethal radiation, only it didn't really hurt anyone as long you only got limited exposer and humans could resist such corruption. If we couldn't the Slayer essences within Buffy and I would have long since consumed us.

By this point my girls had joined me. They'd not been far away and they must have sensed that something was up. Not that I'd sensed anything even with my Slayer powers. Perhaps Illyria was just too alien or maybe she could hide herself.

"Zombie Apocalypse?" I heard Buffy say.

"Yes, that is what the news broadcasts called it" Illyria replied "When events due to an end I was barricaded in here with many humans who fled the zombies. I attempted to defend them, but I was overwhelmed. However I can not be infected by the zombie virus and they ignored me once I stopped attacking them".

This didn't surprise me either. I wasn't sure much could these days.

"And you've seen nobody since then?" I asked.

"No" she replied.

It was tempting to just turn around and leave. However that seemed wrong somehow.

"So you've just been here for years?" I asked "Doing what?".

She titled her head for a moment.

"Reading, watching videos, managing my ant farms, playing Crash..."

"Wait are you Illyira?" Fred suddenly asked.

How did she know about the god-king?

"Have you two met?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"I saw the show" she told me "Its on Gothflick, that's a TV on demand service they have on the Citadel".

People should really stop letting me (or alternate versions of myself) name things.

"Well at least it saves on introductions" I muttered.

I was sure that members of my harem would want to discuss certain things they'd seen, but this wasn't the time or place for such discussions.

"Ant farms?" Amy asked.

That wasn't really important right now either.

"When I concluded that the human race had expired and that demonkind was also failing I decided to wait for a new race to evolve" Illyria told us

Someone else asked a question.

"What did happen to all the monsters?" Fred asked "I know that lots of kinds of demons feed off humans and would have starved, and I'm sure the zombies killed loads too and maybe the vampires left to go hunt animals, but you're the only person, or well sort of person we've seen".

Illyria didn't reply right away.

"I do not know" she admitted. Some time ago I did feel a massive spell being cast, the effects were world wide" she said.

That sounded familiar.

"Planeswalker Gothic cast a spell of Planar Cleansing" I told the group "It killed all the demonic creatures, but it was meant to get rid of the remaining zombies. I guess Illyria here was too powerful to be effected, and it doesn't work on animals either it seems. But it could kill all humans in a universe, which is why I've never requested that he use it on our world".

Or it had been called Planar Outburst? I was sure he'd mentioned it being called Planar something.

"Indeed the animals were spared. I had high hopes for the dolphins, but they proved to be jerks, they were very rude to me. So I turned to the ants. My plan is to enlarge them over the centuries until they gain enough intelligence to understand my orders. Then I will bend their queens to my will giving me control over the entire species. Once that is complete I will have an entire race of workers and warriors under my command. I will forge a new empire that covers the Earth, and we will destroy the dolphins!".

That sounded all nice and crazy.

"Okay we'll leave you to that" I said "You can have LA, and we'll go loot somewhere else".

Alas things weren't so simple.

"What we can't just leave her here!" Willow protested "That would be cruel".

Oddly no one seemed worried about the dolphins she planned to slaughter.

"She's an Old One" I said "Not a stray we can take home. Besides we don't have the room".

Plus you know I demon proofed when possible.

"Shame" stated Buffy "Bet Giles would love to talk her ear off about the demon age he rants on about every time he gives someone 'the world is older than you know' speech. He and Wesley...".

Illyria interrupted.

"Wesley mentioned a Giles" she said quickly "Do you mean my guide, Wesley Wydum-Price".

Thinking fast led to smiling. Season 3 of BTVS Wesley meets Illyria, that could be so much fun, and he could do with a girlfriend. Cordellia wasn't going to be around for much longer, and he couldn't date a student anyway since he was staff at Sunnydale High.

"Yes I do" I told the Old One in the Fred meat suit "He's single and he never dated Fred so he might form a romantic bound with you".

Illyria titled her head to one side.

"Why would I desire that?" she asked.

I considered her question.

"If nothing else it would give you something to do while you wait for the ants to evolve" I told her "And I could do with a powerful ally in future battles. In exchange I can set you up on our Earth. I can sort out a job, the paper work you'll need in order to blend in. Whatever you need".

Illyria took a moment to consider the offer.

"Very well" she then aided "I will aid you in fighting your foes in exchange. Now take me to your world. I tire of this one".

(Line Break)

The Time Vortex.

"I could do with a breather," Rose said as the TARDIS flew through the time vortex "Let's go to some place where absolutely nothing happens and have a cup of tea".

A rather novel idea for someone who travelled with a certain Time Lord.

"Absolutely nothing?" The Doctor asked with a grin.

"Yes," Rose replied with a firm expression on her face. "No running about, or screaming, just some tea, maybe a few sandwiches"

"I just happen to know of a meadow where absolutely nothing ever happens," The Doctor said with a glint in his eye.

"A meadow?" Rose asked curiously.

That did sound rather peaceful the human woman was now thinking.

"A meadow," he agreed nonchalantly.

"Nothing special about it?" she asked.

The Doctor gave the subject some thought.

"Its got an apple tree in it" he said.

"Regular, garden variety apple tree?" Rose wondered.

Knowing her luck this apple tree ate people and had plans for world domination.

"It has a nice tree swing on it" The Time Lord said "And, nothing important or exciting ever happens there. In fact, the only interesting thing about it is the fact that nothing is interesting about it".

The Doctor then changed course.

"Go put the kettle on I'll stop off somewhere for sandwiches" he said.

Or maybe he could make some. He was bound to have a kitchen somewhere nearby. Maybe.

(Line Break)

Home. Sunnydale.

I quickly got changed, intending to head again and have some more fun. I was enjoying myself and I saw no reason to stop. My girls could handle Sunnydale, and we had a powerful new ally in the form of an Old One who was going to pretend to be Fred's twin sister. I'd sorted out the paperwork and the magic required to make the paperwork appear as if it had always been there. Well actually I'd contracted that work, it was surprisingly cheap to do so.

As for me. Well I had a few ideas about what I could be doing with my time. An idea had just struck me, something that would be short but oh so sweet.

"Hello, sir" said a voice.

Only one person in this house ever called me sir.

"Hello, Kendra" I replied "Aren't you working today?".

The potential Slayer worked with her Watcher at the magic store. Which was one of my business interests.

"My Watcher gave me a week off" she told me "I don't think he wants me near his new employee".

I had not intended for Illyria to find employment at the Magic Box, but it suited me just fine as it meant the Zabuto could keep an eye on her for me. I'd introduced her to Wesley, thinking that they might hit it off, but Wes seemed scared of Illyira, which was a highly sensible reaction, but not one helpful to me. Ah well Illyria was reasonable good looking and wore tight leather outfits. If needs be I'd explain what a dominatrix was and then let nature take its course.

"A week off that's nice" I said as I laced up my boots "Do you want some allowance, or for me to drop off somewhere?".

Kendra stepped closer to me.

"Actually sir" she said "I'd like to spend time with you".

Made sense. I was her boyfriend, or master, I wasn't really sure which.

"Fine with me" I told her "I'm going to a party on a cruise ship, but there's a quick stop I want to make on the way. Shouldn't take long".

(Line Break)

Meadow. England.

Rose nearly spat out her tea as what she could only think of as a portal suddenly appeared near the tree she and the Time Lord known as the Doctor were resting against as they enjoyed their refreshments.

The Doctor was on his feet so quickly that he was able to start scanning the portal with hid sonic screwdriver before anyone appeared out of the portal. Soon two people did make an entrance, and they were humans as far as Rose could tell.

One was a young man, who wore an odd outfit, half of which seemed relaxed and modern, while the rest made him look as if he'd just grabbed things out a props department. Only she didn't think the devices he carried, the bits of armour he wore, or the weapons were in anyway fake.

The other person was a young dark skinned woman, who seemed phased by what was going on. She wasn't armed or armoured as far as Rose could tell, but she knew by now that you didn't need weapons to be deadly.

For a moment for two things were very tense, but then the heavily armed and armed man reached out to shake the Doctor's hand. The Time Lord took the offered and shook it.

"I can't stay long" said the young looking dark haired man "I just stopped by to tell you how awesome you are, and that I'm grateful for all your hard work in keeping not just this universe, but all the universes safe".

"Oh I know how that is," The Doctor said cheerfully "Seeing the sights, seeing the people, and running around".

"Exactly," the strange man agreed.

Then he was simply gone.

"Never a dull moment with you" Rose said.

The Doctor had manic grin on his face, which then faded.

"You know I'm sure I've met that man somewhere before" he said as his grin returned, only less intense "Or maybe I've not met him yet, but he knew me that's for sure".

Rose was now confused.

"That's the thing about travelling through time and space, sometimes you met people in the wrong order" the Doctor said "Still nice that he took a moment to thank me. I'm feeling well chuffed now".

Rose got the feeling that he was going to be insufferably cheerful for the rest of the day.

(Line Break)

Cruise Ship. Realm of Gothics.

I had already unpacked my luggage and now I wanted to see what the ship had to offer. Fortunately, whoever had set this all up had provided a map of the ship back when I'd brought my ticket, and it was easy to find my way to what part of the ship it was that I wanted to go.

My first stop was going to be the souvenir shop, so I could pick up a few little somethings for my harem. But while on the way I got distracted by a sound that any 80's kid would recognize no matter where they were in the multiverse; the music of Pac-Man.

At once I headed to the token machine, which would exchange the crystal coins used in this realm for tokens that could be used here on the ship for gambling and games. After collecting the tokens, I went into the arcade and looked around. I must have been grinning like a lunatic at all the machines. I saw Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pac-man, Ms Pac-man, and so many others that my inner geek didn't know where to start.

"Hah! Take that, you ectoplasmic bastards!" another version of myself yelled.

Oh there was a Ghost Busters game too.

"Wouldn't you rather play with me, Sir?" a voice asked.

I turned to see Kendra, and my jaw dropped. She was wearing a black skimpy bikini, along with a spiky collar and wrist bands. It was beachwear meets bondage, and somehow she made it work for her.

"That's a new look" I said.

Kendra gave me a sultry smile.

"I'm trying to impress you" she admitted "So that you'll pay more attention to me. Is it working?".

Well I admired her honesty, among other things.

"Let's go to my cabin" I decided.

(Line Break)

Quarters. Cruise Ship.

Once we were inside, and the door closed behind us, I released her hand.

"Okay Kendra, it's play time. Take off your clothes!"

She looked down at the ground, acting the part of submissive very well.

"Shall I dance for you, sir?" she asked.

I considered her offer. There was a sound system in this room, and having her dance was tempting, but I also wanted her naked right now.

"Maybe some other time" I said.

I moved to sit on the bed, and she stood in front of me, She kicked off her shoes as I smiled at the suspiciously dark stain on the front of her panties

"Kendra turn around and put your hands flat on the floor" I ordered I want to get a good look at that ass of yours!"

I saw the hint of a grin on her face as she turned towards the wall and bent over at the waist. The girl was wearing a thong, and it did next to nothing to hide her private parts from view. Not when she was bent over like this.

"Magnificent," I said. "You know that you won't be leaving this room before I fuck that fantastic ass".

While I couldn't see her face I figured she was smiling.

"I'm looking forward to it, sir, it's been part of my fantasies for the past few weeks" she admitted.

Kinky little thing.

"You can stand up and turn around now. I want to see the rest of you" I said next.

Kendra soon lost her bra, but she hesitated then. She was looking a little shy all of a sudden.

"Hurry up" I ordered "I want to see those panties on the floor!"

Being commanded by me seemed to relax her.

"Yes, sir!" she said she as shoved the thong down away from her pussy and slid it down her legs.

She was very submissive, more so than my other girls. I could use that.

"Now, get down on your knees and hand me your panties" I instructed.

The potential Slayer lowered herself to the carpet and picked up her soaked underwear. After sticking out my hand, she put the cloth into my palm and waited.

"Good, now stand up and put your hands behind your head" I ordered.

I took a moment to enjoy the view of her body, with her shoulders pulled back, she was thrusting her chest forward.

"You can put your arms down" I instructed "Good girl Kendra".

She smiled, but looked at me quizzically,

"You called me by name? Don't you want to call me slut, or whore, or cunt, or something?" she wondered.

Not really.

"Do you _want_ me to call you those names?" I asked her.

She shook her head firmly,

"No, not really, but I thought that's how it works" she told me "I have heard your other girls call themselves that".

Well that was true.

"What you have to understand, is that in a true, healthy Dom/sub relationship there's a certain amount of trust and respect required" I tried to explain "As a Dom I respect your limits, whatever they are, and you trust me not to abuse you".

I had taken things further than perhaps I should have with Willow, but she'd summoned a demon-god so I'd needed to come down on her hard to make sure she didn't do it again.

"Besides stuff like that is what they say in the heat of the moment" I added "They wouldn't like me calling them that sort of thing outside of rough sex".

Well maybe Faith would be cool with it.

"Anyway," I said, while unbuttoning my jeans and pulling down the zipper, "We can talk about that later. I believe you know what to do next".

I heard her mutter, "Finally!" under her breath, and I chuckled as Kendra reached up and pulled me out of my boxers, letting my cock bounce in the air. Her eyes widened when she saw me, and she licked her lips, as she reached for me and wrapped her warm hand around my shaft.

She stroked me a few times, rubbing her palm over the head of my cock before licking me, teasing the skin at the base of the head. I had a hard time keeping back my groan of pleasure, because she was already getting to me. Clearly Kendra had been picking up some tips from my other girls.

Opening her mouth, the potential Slayer wrapped her lips around the head of my cock, before looking up at me with a twinkle in her eyes and slid me further inside her mouth. Only Faith could have educated Kendra enough for her to know how to please a man like this with some little practical experience. Faith had most likely gotten Kendra to practice on a banana or something like that.

I stopped thinking after that, the pleasure she was giving me was far more important than thinking, with my big head anyway! I just braced myself on the edge of the bed and enjoyed Kendra's attempt to emulate Faith's expert cock sucking style.

"Kendra I'm going to cum!" I managed to say.

Since she obviously was intending to swallow, I relaxed and let the orgasm hit me. She swallowed everything I gave her easily enough, sucking me until I was spent, before pulling her face away and sticking out her tongue, showing the last of my cum.

"You can swallow" I told her.

Damn she was super submissive. I was going to have to focus on finding out her limits. Thankfully this cruise lasted a whole week so I had plenty of time for that.


	24. Chapter 24

**Slayer Gothic 3 - Chapter 24**

 **Metropolis. DC Verse.**

The armoured bus that my girls and I had built so as to safely explore the zombie world I owned, came to a halt just outside of a major city mere seconds after coming out of a portal. Hopefully the magical protections would prevent people from noticing that was an armed bus just parked outside of the city.

For a change were going some where for a quick trip that didn't have so much dark energy around so Tara was with us. In fact all my girls were here. Their normally busy schedules, that were taken up with school, patrol, homework, hanging out at the Bronze and such had been cleared so we could all spend time together.

"That's Metropolis," I said as we all plied out of the bus "It's the home of Superman, which means it attracts major baddies, such as alien overlords, powerful meta-humans, all kinds of monsters and even giant robots. Which means we won't be staying here for long".

It would be nice to be able to check out all the sites, such as the Daily Planet building, or the Hall of Justice, but we only had a free weekend, and there was a whole world to explore.

"We need a map," Fred declared

"I guess we can stop at a gas station just outside of Metropolis and get a map there" Amy suggested.

Sounded like a plan.

"While fun, this is a dangerous world," I explained "Most of the places we go are dangerous in one way or another, but this one has people throwing energy blasts around while they fly around. I don't want anyone getting hurt because we got caught in the crossfire".

"And I second that," Superman announced

He had just appeared out of nowhere as only someone with super speed could.

"Err hi" was all I managed to say.

No one else was able to speak. Even my fellow Slayer was near cationic, in fact she seemed to be drooling a little. To be fair he was tall, muscular, good looking, and wow really tall.

"I'm here to find out who you are and what you're doing" the super hero told us.

Somehow I managed to get things together. I figured he must have seen or heard the portal as the bus was sort of cloaked in that people shouldn't be able to notice it. They see it enough that they walk or drive into it as long as we didn't draw attention to ourselves. Superman must have been looking for what came out of the portal.

"Pleased to meet you," I said while shaking Superman's hand. "We are looking for a gas station so we can get a map to figure out where to go while we visit your world".

This got me a raise eyebrow.

"You're tourists?" he asked.

I nodded.

"We're from another dimension" I explained "An alternate Earth, we're exploring, you know seeing the sights, we're planning to do a little shopping, and we have stuff to trade for local currency. Assuming we can find a place that will take gold for cash and not ask too many questions".

A Planeswalker's Guide to the Multi-Verse did suggest gold-exchanges and pawn shops as good way to get your hands on local currency.

"Tourists from another dimension" the super powered alien muttered "In an armoured bus?".

I nodded.

"The alternate dimension we just came from had a slight zombie problem" I told him "An armoured bus gives us plenty of space to store loot. Well salvage might be a better word for it. There aren't any people living in that world so its all recovered more than stole".

Silence fell as Superman just stood there quietly for a minute.

"I'll go find you a map," he finally said before vanishing.

He then reappeared with a massive map that was all neatly folded up.

"I've got to go," Superman said while handing me the map "Try to stay out of trouble, and enjoy your visit I guess".

He then did a vanishing act again.

"Must be something going on in the city" I mused.

Soon I had the map out and was studying it while my girls gathered their wits.

"Gotham?" Faith suggested after a minute studying the map.

"Dark and dreary, but has a startling amount of blimps for some reason" I said. "Plus a lot of insane mass murderers. Then we've got Flash's hometown. Dozen supervillian attacks a day. As for Green Lantern's territory that depends on which Lantern it is".

I went through the data stored on my omni-tool while wishing I'd been able to get a decent VI to help to sort through the information, or better yet a friendly AI.

"Jump City?" I asked myself more than anyone else "The Teen Titans are there, but the criminals are mostly low key. No mass murderers or take over the world schemes, for the most part anyway".

Fred studied the map.

"Its also in the exact same place as Sunnydale is in ours" she said "but its a city, and Sunnydale doesn't have a bay. Could be something to do with the Earthquakes, it might not even have a Hellmouth".

Sounded interesting.

"Ding, ding. Looks like we have a winner," Buffy said cheerfully.

"Jump City here we come!" Faith yelled.

(Line Break)

 **Titan Tower. Jump City.**

Across the country a cold chill passed through the air that only certain people could sense. One being a member of a certain crime fighting team.

"Are you well friend Raven?" Starfire asked.

"Just a chill," the cloaked mystic replied while rubbing her arms.

Despite her words couldn't help feeling as if something bad was heading their way.

(Line Break)

 **Streets. Jump City.**

The stand off was tense. We'd managed to disable to three male members of the Teen Titans, but the girls were proving more of a challenge. Mostly because they hadn't stood around making threats after successfully ambushing us in board daylight.

"Maybe we should talk about this" I suggested.

No one dropped their guard.

"It's best not to startle magic users, especially ones with lots of power" I chided "Girls let them go".

Willow, Tara and Amy let go of each others hands thus freeing the male Teen Titans who had been trapped in a magical sphere of some kind. Clearly my witches had advanced in magic far beyond what I had expected. But they had been studying as a group for a couple of years now so I shouldn't have been shocked by their level of power.

"You'd think he'd have learned that by now," Raven drawled out sarcastically.

"We have come to do the greetings and interrogations," Starfire said cheerfully.

Well at least she was honest.

"I am Damien Mason. AKA Slayer Gothic, Champion of Mareth, Defender of Mithral Hall, Knight of Silverymoon, Protector of the Hellmouth, warlock, warrior and multiverse traveller" I introduced "I think that's all my titles".

There was silence for a moment.

"Dude you need business cards" a green kid said.

I couldn't believe what I'd just heard.

"Why the hell did none of us ever think of that?" I asked while facing my girls.

I then turned to address the local heroes.

"These are my girls" I told the locals "Buffy Summers, fellow vampire Slayer. Faith and Kendra are potential Slayers".

If Faith had seen the show then there was no point not mentioning that she could one day be a Slayer.

"We also have Amy, Tara and Willow, three very powerful witches" I said next "and the tiny lady at the back is Winifred, she's like the smartest woman the world. They also should have business cards".

It would save time.

"What is your purpose in coming to our city?" Robin asked politely.

I smiled.

"Tourism mostly" I answered "Also we do have some stuff to trade in exchange for advanced tech and occult stuff".

This surprised the locals.

"Tourism?" Robin asked.

"Jump City doesn't deal with alien invasions and massive battles all that often" I answered "so I figured it was a good place to find items we can use. We trade in tech and magical items mostly, but since we can go anywhere we can get you pretty much anything you want, or we can find someone to make it for you. The only real limits we have are bringing back the dead and obtaining godhood".

The problem with having so many options when it came to travel and acquiring goods from across the multiverse was that it was hard to decided what to do first. I really should be finding a way to increase my powers, but I kept getting distracted.

"Do you take commissions?" Raven asked intently "I need a magical item of a very special kind".

I hadn't before, but all Gothics who could perform Old One spells could perform enchantments on objects as long as they knew the right symbols.

"Sure," I replied. "As long as you have something to trade that gets my interest. Doesn't have to be that valuable".

Sometimes I made deals just in case something I wanted proved to be useful later on.

"I need something to help augment my control over my powers," Raven told me.

This matter I gave some thought.

"Are you pre or post Trigon?" I asked.

"Post" was her simple reply.

That changed things. She wasn't a world ending threat if she was post Trigon. Not according to the Planeswalker guide.

"Get me a workshop and I'll see what I can do" I offered "I should be able enchant something that suits your needs, as for payment my witches can check out your occult stuff. Most of which we have is demonolgy and work on other supernatural creatures. Would be nice to extend our collection".

The robed woman turned to her team mates.

"Robin?" Raven asked.

"If you think they're trustworthy," Robin said.

"I've got the workshop" Cyborg offered.

This was when we came under attack by what I could only assume to be minions.

(Line Break)

Watchtower. Orbit.

"Wait so one of the tourists killed Vandal Savage?" Wonder Woman asked.

Batman displayed an image. It was hand drawn.

"None of the group can be recorded or seen in any way that doesn't involve the naked eye, but I did my best to get us an image of their leader. As you can see he is wearing Yautja armour, a suit clearly modified for better protection as well human use. He has been seen carrying a rarity of weapons, including a sword that has a trapped demon within it" the Dark Knight said "Best guess at this point is he ran into a Yautja who took him as a hunting partner for some reason. We know little about that race, and even the Lantern Core don't know about their home world. Given the armour I suspect that the Yautja are also from another reality, and that they venture here in small numbers on hunting trips. And that they are not the only group to travel the multi-verse on a whim".

"And the reason he attacked Savage and almost killed him?" the Manhunter asked "Not that he can be killed as far as we know".

Batman frowned. Which was his default expression so no one noticed.

"He used some technology we don't know about to send Savage to another dimension. One where he can't hurt anyone since no one lives there. But we only have this Slayer's word on that. As for the Jump City police, who are investigating Savage's attack, they don't know what to do because banishing someone to another dimension isn't a crime. It may well become one, but until this gets shorted out this Slayer can't leave town. I've decided to leave him with the Titans for the time being since they seem to be similar ages, and the rest of his group is returning home so as to limit the confusion in legal matters".

Superman cleared his throat.

"Can't he just leave?" asked the super powered alien.

Batman gently shook his head.

"Robin took away most of his weapons and the portal generating device during the confusion after the battle" the dark knight explained "The rest of his group had their own means of leaving, but they could be back. Oddly they didn't seem worried about him being placed in protective custody, and neither did he. The second in command of the group one Buffy Summers, claimed that they had to go back for school. Still we should assume that his allies have a plan in place to recover their leader if he's separated from them for too long".

What Batman didn't mention was his gut feeling that if this Slayer had wanted to leave that no one in Jump City would have been able to stop him.

(Line Break)

Titan Tower. Jump City.

"Okay so why am I here?" I asked.

I'd surrendered to the police because Robin had taken my portal gun. It wouldn't work for him, but I couldn't have reclaimed it without violence, and things could have gotten way out of hand. I had hoped to calm things down, so far that wasn't working out as well as I'd hoped.

"Prosecution," Batman said bluntly.

"Prosecution?" I asked "How can be guilty of anything? You can't kill an immortal, and it can't be illegal to send someone to another dimension, or Superman is in a lot trouble for sending people to the Phantom Zone".

"Savage is a human" Batman said "What you did to him could be considered abduction".

"He attacked us" I reminded the caped crusader "Plus I can recover him when ever I wish, besides he isn't locked up against his will, he can can anywhere he wants in that world. If you actually think about it I've increased his personal freedom while lessening the danger to anyone else".

Well okay it wasn't that simple.

"Even if he gets bit by a zombie it can't turn him since he can't die" I said "If I do go and recover him I'll take a long a cure disease potion to be safe".

No sense bringing back a plague carrier.

"The Justice League-" Batman began to say

"Doesn't have the legal authority to detain me or keep any of my possessions," I interrupted "The only reason I am still here is because I didn't want to have to hurt any normal humans. Now if the people in charge need a few days to decide how to handle this then I will cooperate. But you will return my weapons and do at once. You can keep the portal gun locked away, but please don't mess with it. The device is powered by something I can only guess at, but I know it shouldn't be taken apart. Not if you want the solar system to remain intact".

Batman sighed softly.

"I'll talk to the chief of police and the League can talk to the governor" Batman said "It shouldn't take more than a few days".

Soon he was vanishing. Using the teleporter we'd just used to get here.

"Tall, dark and broody says I'll be staying here" I told the group "For a few days at most".

Soon I found a seat on a semi circle shaped couch.

"You don't sound that broken up about all this" Robin accused "Aren't you worried that your friends will leave you here, and that you'll be trapped?".

I had to laugh.

"No I'm not worried" I said "There are people out there who are more than a match for the entire Justice League and if I know my girls they've already informed the Council what is going on. So if anyone messes with my portal gun they'll be hell to pay".

This was when an alarm sounded and red lights started flashing. It was like someone had set up a disco, but had done a piss poor job of it.

The titans all pulled out octagon-shaped devices that looked to be hand-held communicators. Along with the business cards these were something else I should look into acquiring for my group. We could use our omni-tools for that sort of communication, but they didn't work across realities. A new device for communication was required.

"Hive is up to their usual tricks!" Robin exclaimed. "Titans, Go!"

The Boy Wonder paused and then turned to me.

"Don't go anywhere!" he commanded before sprinting off, followed by most of the others "Or do anything".

I sat back down on the couch.

"Bathroom's across the hall, remote's probably under the sofa, and avoid the meat in the fridge if you're allergic to tofu. We should be back in a couple of hours at most," Cyborg quickly rattled off before sprinting away.

A moment later the Titan's living room became as silent as the grave as the alarms shut off, and soon I was searching under the couch for the remote. It turned out to be lodged between the seat cushions.

I found away to switch it on and the enormous, wide-screen TV came to life, soon revealing an overweight young man who had a face covered in pimples and huge side-burns.

"Greetings, Titans! It is I, Control Freak," he called out.

I didn't know this guy.

"They're not here, and I don't expect them back for a couple of hours" I said "Can I help you?".

"But I had everything planned!" Control Freak whined.

Then he stepped out of the TV. Which was something new even for me.

"Hold can you just step in and out of TV shows?" I asked "Can you like bring stuff out too?".

This seemed to surprise the guy who was still unknown to me.

"You know you are like the first person to ask me, like ever" Control Freak said.

"You're kidding," I said.

The potential for this technology, assuming it was tech of some sort, was near unlimited. With the right DVDs and knowledge you could have anything that's ever been seen on screen.

"Seriously," the possible villain replied. "No one has ever asked".

Why the hell not.

"Well, I'm asking," I said. "I mean, can you put yourself in the main role of your favourite movie, or pull things out?"

He was smiling now.

"All of that and more," Control Freak said.

I had to have this technology!

"Then why are bothering heroes?" I was soon asking "If you want to be rich and famous I can think of a few ways you can use your powers to do that without harming anyone".

Control Freak blushed.

"What about girls?" he asked "Can we use my remote to get me a girlfriend?".

I had to chuckle.

"Oh my new friend" I said "Why stop at one girlfriend when you could have a harem of fictional characters, a girl in every sitcom. You just need to tidy yourself up a bit, get a haircut, move out of your parent's basement, we'll change your clothes too. Then we can discuss an exchange for your technology. I have a few things that can help you get everything you want".

(Line Break) **  
**

 **Titan Tower. Jump City.**

The Titans returned, looking a bit battered but in a good mood.

"Dude, did you see the way I mule-kicked Mammoth?" I heard Beast Boy ask the others. "Boom, right into the water!"

"It was a glorious battle!" Starfire declared.

"Is that pizza?" Cyborg asked, while sniffing the air.

Indeed it was.

"I thought I told you not to leave this room!" Robin yelled.

This made me smile.

"Technically I didn't" I told him "Control Freak came by, we had a chat and as part of his efforts to make amends for his sins against you he used his powers to grab a bunch of pizzas and he got me some new clothes from a commercial about clothes obviously".

People were all staring at me.

"He's now working on a business plan that involves taking people into TV land so that they can interact with their favourite fictional character in a safe way. He can do other stuff like let kids play in a world were its impossible for anyone to actually get hurt".

I had more to say.

"We also discussed him going to science fiction shows to recover advanced medical technology, but I don't think he should do that until he has someone to help him. I don't want him thinking he's bringing back the cure to a disease only to later to discover that's brought back a test tube of disease that has until now never existed in the world".

The super heroes all needed a moment to process this.

"So he's given up a life of crime?" Robin asked.

I nodded.

"He's really socially awkward, but also a genius" I explained "When you met he'd been up for days working on his invention and he wanted to test on his favourite movie, but he lost control due to tiredness and not knowing how to handle suddenly being cast as a villain by some super heroes. He went a bit loopy, and got stuck on the whole super crook idea. He really just needed a little guidance from a friend. Anyway he's going on a redemption kick and plans to become rich and powerful in ways that aren't illegal while also doing good for people".

Everyone exchanged looks.

"Works for me," Beast Boy said, while rushing over to grab a box of pizza.

I then remembered something.

"We went into one of those makeover shows so you might not recognise him next time you see him, but he's going find something in TV land you'll like so you see him soon. Try to be nice, he's actually pretty decent if you don't mind talking about Warp Trek and video games".

Which I didn't.

"Explains the haircut" Raven muttered.

I'd not escaped the make over show unscathed.

"Dude, don't we have some of his remotes?" Beast Boy asked Cyborg excitedly.

"They don't work for normal people, we tested them," Robin reminded him, while grabbing a slice of pizza. "They probably only worked for Gothic because Control Freak was with him".

That was true, but not the whole truth. Like my portal gun Control Freak's remotes required you to have the right brainwaves to work, but Control Freak had installed that feature and as such he could modify it.

"So, what can you tell us about you?" Cyborg asked as he settled in to watch TV with Beast Boy and I "And what to you do when your not fighting or redeeming super villains".

"I fight monsters" I told him "Mostly vampires, hence the title: The Vampire Slayer. I'm a mystically empowered human, I have enhanced strength, speed, stamina, and healing powers along with a few more subtle ones. I can sense the supernatural to an extent like if a vampire is close by, I've had dreams and visions, but they get sent to be my higher powers. Oh and I have a power that lets me use weapons and even vehicles without needing to learn how to use them because past Slayer did. The power is hereditary in some sense, not genetically, but I do have a number of potential successors who will find using weapons easier because I've practised using them. I can also do a little magic, and I have some detective skills".

"Did you spend a lot of time investigating crimes?" Robin asked curiously.

Not as much as other Slayers might have.

"Mainly missing persons and homicides," I replied. "Sunnydale may be a small town, but its kinda like someone distilled Gotham and gave it a suburban make-over, and the monsters are real monsters not human ones".

"That sounds... disturbing," Raven muttered.

Indeed it was.

"Yeah, and the police make the Gotham PD look honest," I added "And even if they weren't there's no system in place to lock up the monsters since people don't even know they exist. So either we kill them or they never get stopped, and then there's the demons who are actively trying to destroy the world".

Robin glared at me, or seemed to.

"So you kill all the bad guys because there's no prisons to contain them?" he asked.

Well not exactly. I'd kill them anyway because I was made for it. In a sense.

"Assuming I could contain a vampire long enough to get him too the police station they wouldn't believe that he was a vampire so they'd just let him go" I told Robin "And vampires are soulless killers that need to feed on blood. They could drink from animals if they wished, butchers could supply their needs, but they chose to attack humans who have no defence against them since they don't believe in vampires".

"You know most people would require counselling to get over their feelings of guilt," Raven said dryly

I had feelings of guilt? Well okay I didn't like myself for killing the few humans I'd slain, but I could live with it.

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one" I said "A little blood on my hands is well worth if the human race doesn't get eaten by monsters or sucked into a hell-dimension. And if you think I'm mad then consider that the first sign of insanity is repeating the same action and expecting different results. No matter how many times you beat up super villains they just keep coming back for more, and innocent people get hurt in the crossfire. So whose really in the wrong here?".

I let them stew on that for a few moments.

"Oh. Where am I bunking?" I asked.

"We've got plenty of room, just pick one," Cyborg said in between bites of pizza.

He didn't seem that effected by my words. But he did seem to be easy going. Perhaps he just didn't stress out about things he had little to no control over.

"The room next to mine will work," Raven offered "I should keep an eye on you. I don't like that dark power you're carrying around".

I was insulted since she was half demon. Of course that meant I wanted to half slay her. Which amount to what exactly?

"Gothic and I are to be room mates?" Starfire asked curiously.

That could end well or really, really badly.

"The other side of my room," Raven corrected

Eh whatever.

"It's pretty empty," Cyborg warned. "We didn't set this place up for company"

"As long as it has a TV and a futon, I'll be fine," I promised.

That was when I remembered something.

"Did Bats return my stuff yet?"

"He's still running tests," Robin replied "Mostly on the armour and the personal shield. He's always looking for ways to improve our equipment".

That annoyed me.

"If he'd asked and had something to offer in trade I could get him as many kinetic barriers and suits of armour as he wished".

I went for more pizza.

"You're pretty cool about all this" Beast Boy noted.

I shrugged.

"Well I've spent nearly three years living on a Hellmouth, which attracts the weird and whacky like a mouth to the flame

"What's a Hellmouth?" Robin asked.

"A dimensional weak point," Raven replied.

More or less.

"Freaky stuff happens there" I told the Titans. "One girl who was ignored or overlooked by everyone turned invisible. My friends and I have been able to partly reverse it, and now she can control the power, she was starting to go made due to being cut off from other people. Also it attracts monsters like flies to honey, hence why I'm so busy killing them. This is like a vacation to me".

"Why do people still live there?!" Beast Boy asked in alarm.

I shrugged. Why did people live in Gotham?

"Well for Sunnydale it would have to be about the affordable housing, low levels of unemployment, the nearby airport, and university, also the crimes all get covered up so no one reads about them making it seem as if there is next to no crime" I said "I know of at least one person who was killed by a vampires whose obituary in the paper says that he cut himself on a barbecue fork, and people believe it".

The Titans exchanged glances.

"Your people are very strange," Starfire told Robin.

Indeed we were.

"Sounds like the town needs a hero or five," Cyborg said.

It had them. Well sort of.

"So basically, you live in a place you could write a series of Stephen King style novels about," Robin said "Now you make sense. But couldn't you have just explained all this to the Justice League?. It would have made things a lot easier".

I shrugged.

"They didn't ask me for my side of the story" I told the Boy Wonder.

Which had been rude.

"How do you cope?" Raven wondered "Your stress levels must be through the roof".

For a few moments I thought about the things I did with my girls. Oh so many kinky, and that was just with Kendra, who pretty much followed me around hoping I would play with her like some sort of sex puppy.

"I have to go meditate," she said, quickly leaving.

"I have to contact Batman" Robin then said.

The room fell silent for a minute until Cyborg spoke.

"What just happened?" he asked.

I puzzled over it for a moment.

"Can't say for certain, but I suspect that Raven was looking into my mind and saw stuff that was at the front of my mind when I was thinking about how to reply to your questions" I explained "So when she enquired about how I cope she must have seen how I cope".

"And how is that?" Starfire wondered.

This required some careful answering. Starfire seemed naive about certain things.

"I live with a bunch of girls who all adore me, in their own special ways" I told her "Let's just say I'm never short of a cuddle".

Beast Boy sighed.

"Must be nice" he said.

I knew what he was feeling. Unrequited love, or at least he had unresolved romantic feelings towards the half demon.

"Can't get a date with Miss Moody?" I asked.

"I always feel like I'm bugging her when I invite her to stuff," Beast Boy said.

"You are," Cyborg asked. "You don't just ask, you badger her".

"I thought you used the puppy to try and get her to do things," Starfire said confused.

Beast Boy turned into a little green puppy and gave her a pleading look.

"Yes, like that!" she yelled.

"Doing things to the point its annoys them is known as badgering someone," I explained.

"It's because badgers are very stubborn animals that do what they want regardless of danger," Cyborg added.

"Oh, I see!" Starfire said brightly.

I thought about something.

"Given that Raven's an empathic you should better control your emotions better" I advised "Do you best to remained calm and if you do invite her somewhere and she says no, make sure there's some distance between you before you let yourself deal with the rejection. In fact it might be best to invite her somewhere using an actual invitation rather than bothering her directly. Then she won't feel that her privacy is being invaded so much as she can respond at her own pace, or not at all if you just give a time and place and let her turn up or not as she pleases with no pestering".

For me this seemed to be a good day for giving out advice.

"I'll try to dial it back a little," Beast Boy said, while opening another pizza.

"Good luck with that. You don't have a low setting. It's either full-stop or charge," Cyborg said.

He did seem the kind to go hyper.

"So what's the weirdest thing you've done?" Beast Boy asked me "While fighting bad guys I mean".

No doubt he was wanting to change the subject, but I didn't mind.

"I once forged an alliance with dragon/naga hybrid" I told the Titans "Oh and I set my Watcher up with a reborn Old One who took over the body of an alternate version of my tutor/girlfriend. That was odd".

No one had a reply to that. Wonder why.

(Line Break)

 **Titan Tower. Jump City.**

I stepped into his temporary room and poked around. Just as described it was pretty bare, not even up to motel standards, but it had a good sized TV and its own bathroom, so I was satisfied.

Turning on the TV I flipped through the channels, amazed at how many there were until I found something adult, in the sense that it was set at a bar full of pretty people. I assumed it was a comedy judging by the laugh track, and I jumped into the show, intending to get myself a night cap.

Being under house arrest took on a whole new meaning when your TV became a gateway to any number of places.


End file.
